Comelec sets up makeshift polling centers in quake-hit Bohol 

The Commission on Elections will use makeshift polling centers for the November 25 barangay elections in Bohol because some schools usually used during elections were damaged in the 7.2 magnitude earthquake that hit the province in October.

 

“In Bohol, we approved the creation of some makeshift voting centers… There are not many, though. Just a few here and there,” Comelec chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. said.

The poll body chief said the Comelec also acquired lamps for the canvassing of votes, which starts after polls close.

Power has been problematic in parts of the Visayas because super typhoon Yolanda, which hit the central Philippines earlier this month, damaged a power station, substations, and electric towers and poles. The Energy department is racing to restore full power by December 24.

“During the voting, there is no problem since it is still day. It matters at night during the canvassing of votes,” Brillantes said.

 

Bohol has 799,089 registered voters from 1,109 barangays.

 

Zamboanga City will hold barangay elections on November 25 as well.

Elections there were postponed because of security concerns after fighting erupted between the government and a faction of the Moro National Liberation Front in September.

 

“In Zamboanga, there is no problem so far. We have the military there to augment the police,” Brillantes said.

 

The city has 98 barangays with 412,661 registered voters.

The rest of the country held barangay elections on October 28. — JDS, GMA News