Poll records intact in storm-hit areas

A TRICYCLE negotiates a muddy road in Cabanatuan City on Oct. 20 as floodwaters brought by Typhoon “Lando” (international name: Koppu) subside. GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO—Most offices of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in Central Luzon have been spared by floods triggered by Typhoon “Lando” (international name: Koppu) last week, ensuring that records of the region’s 5.9 million voters are intact, an official said.

Inspections of Comelec offices in Aurora, Bataan, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Tarlac and Zambales provinces and 14 cities in the region on Monday and Tuesday showed no damage to furniture, computers, data capturing machines and digital and printed files, said lawyer Temie Lambino, Comelec regional director, on Wednesday.

“Some documents in our office in Cabanatuan City [in Nueva Ecija] were damaged but this [incident] would not affect the [holding of the] 2016 elections,” Lambino told the Inquirer.

Preparedness

No Comelec employee was hurt or displaced by the floods, he said, attributing the safety of personnel, equipment and records to preparedness.

Nueva Ecija Gov. Aurelio Umali had said 60 percent of 89 villages in Cabanatuan City suffered from floods of up to 2 meters deep on the night of Oct. 18 as rainwater dumped by Lando over Aurora and eastern Nueva Ecija drained to the lowlands.

Lambino said records in Cabanatuan City could be retrieved from the provincial office or national office before official documents, known as projects of precincts (POPs), are completed on Nov. 16. The POPs contain, among others, the names of registered voters.

Biometrics

He said 5.4 percent of voters in the region are still without biometrics in the run-up to the Oct. 31 deadline. Biometrics, which include thumbmarks and signatures, are collected to authenticate the identities of voters.

At least 250,000 voters in the region are expected to fail to submit biometrics data as they may have registered twice or more, have died or are living abroad, Lambino said.

He said the collection of biometrics data, done since 2002, came with reports of voters asking local officials to bring them to registration centers, give them food or pay them.

Lambino said officials of the Comelec, the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines in the region have met four times to assess and plan security measures to ensure peaceful and orderly elections next year. Tonette Orejas, Inquirer Central Luzon