Exempt relief efforts from poll ban, Comelec urged

Albay 2nd District Rep. Joey Salceda at Kapihan sa Manila Bay. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Albay Rep. Joey Salceda has requested the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to exempt all relief operations for residents displaced by Mayon Volcano’s unrest from the upcoming election spending ban.

Salceda, chair of the House ways and means panel, has asked the Comelec to exclude the Department of Social Welfare and Development and other agencies doing relief work in Albay from the ban.

“ This could extend beyond the barangay elections,” he said in a statement on Saturday.

Comelec Resolution No. 10902 stated that the election spending ban will be from Oct. 19 to Oct. 28, or the campaign period for the barangay and youth polls.

“ We want to abide by the law. And we want to take care of our people. We want to do both. Comelec has the means and the power to help us do both. That’s why we are making this request,” Salceda said. —Julie M. Aurelio