The Commission On Elections Proposed Rules For The Possibility Of A Quake During May 13 Elections
COMELEC PROPOSED – In preparation for the possibility of a quake during the May 13 elections, COMELEC proposed rules to deal with it.
Since there were recently recurring earthquakes across the country, there is also a chance being looked at by authorities that a quake might occur during the election period.
James Jimenez, Comelec’s spokesperson, revealed that rules of processes for when an earthquake occurs next week are being prepared.
In an interview with the press, Jimenez stated that they are currently working on the rules and policies as quickly as they can.
According to Jimenez, they are also working with the Department of Education in checking the school buildings. Especially the ones affected by the recent quakes.
Schools were checked since school buildings are usually being used as voting and polling centers.
Jimenez also expressed that their primary concern is the safety of everyone. Including the voters, the Comelec personnel and other people involved.
This is according to an article from Philippine News Agency.
He expressed the concern in his statement:
“The most important consideration here is their safety and we want to make sure that if there are voting precincts in these areas, they should be safe and they have not been damaged by either the primary earthquake or the aftershocks.”
He also claimed that they are prepared to secure the voting machines, tools and counters in case a tremor occurred.
The local police are also ordered to secure the polling areas and when the voting machines cannot be taken out, school building will be locked down.
He also revealed the last resort and options in his statement:
“The safest bet here is to either suspend or declare failure of elections. That decision is still being made.”
That is all there is to it, at least for now. We’ll post updates as soon as we got them.