BAGUIO CITY, Philippines?Voters in the city and in five provinces of the Cordillera are expecting the May 10 elections to be more disorganized than what poll officials predict, based on the conditions of Cordillera?s clustered precincts.

Task Force Poll Watch-Cordillera, which is composed of local nongovernment organizations, identified 56 clustered precincts in remote villages of Abra, Apayao, Mt. Province and Benguet, which have no electricity, roads or mobile telephone and wireless Internet access.

Beverly Longid, president of the Katribu party-list group, which helped the task force survey the region, said the Commission on Elections drew up the clustered precincts despite these problems.

Interviews conducted by the Inquirer last week indicated that many Baguio voters have no idea where they would end up voting. Many believed they would still be accommodated by the old precincts used in the previous manual polls.

Longid said they want automated elections to succeed, but the likelihood of a failure of election in remote Cordillera communities ?is high if we will go by the facts on the ground.?

The task force report said 30 clustered precincts in Benguet; the towns of Tadian, Barlig, Paracelis, Natonin, Sadanga, Bontoc, Sagada, and Sabangan in Mt. Province; and Conner town in Apayao, have bad or no roads, which would add difficulty for voters traveling from one upland community to the next.

The report cited Benguet?s clustered precinct at Takadang and Bagiw villages in Kibungan town and Baga village in Bakun town, which vehicles could not reach due to bad roads.

The report said these villages also belong to the 15 clustered precincts in the region which have no Internet access.

It said 10 clustered precincts have no mobile telephone signals, while 18 clustered precincts have no electricity.

The clustered precinct of Maket-an Elementary School in Tadian, Mt. Province, it said, has all three problems?bad roads, no Internet signal and no electricity?which would hamper efficient voting.

Makalanna village in Barlig, Mt. Province; and the villages of Katablanga and Nabuangan in Conner, Apayao, have bad roads and no Internet and mobile telephone signals, the report said.

No electricity

The chief problem of Abra is electricity for the clustered precincts of the Lat-ey barangay hall, the Buanao barangay hall, Pacgued barangay hall, Mataragan Elementary School, Duloa Primary School, Bayabas Primary School and Benasaran Primary School in Malibcong town, the report said.

It?s the same problem for the Abra precincts hosted by Tabacda Primary School, Kili Elementary School, Batayan Primary School, Alangatin Elementary School and Likuwan Primary School in Tubo town, as well as Ud-udiao Elementary School in Sallapadan town, it said.

The task force said the absence of power was also noted in Buneg Primary School, Sap-al Elementary School and Talipugo Primary School in Lacub, Abra.

Longid said they fear massive disenfranchisement of indigenous peoples unless Comelec reviews its clustering system.

She said voters who discover they would have to endure the long treks may choose to stay away from the polls.

It?s a similar situation for Baguio.

Comelec has designated 221 clustered precincts for the city but most of the precincts were unfamiliar to many of the 50 voters interviewed by the Inquirer in the communities of Engineers Hill, St. Joseph, Military Cut-Off, Scout Barrio and Salud Mitra.

The Comelec Baguio office had posted the location of these precincts online and at its compound?s gates, but only a few residents had checked it.

Many village officials said they have yet to receive the voters? information sheets, which would tell voters where the clustered precincts are located.

But Baguio voters were familiar with the precinct count optical scan machines because of television commercials sponsored by Comelec.