• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
With more than two weeks to go before the May 12 elections, the Commission on Elections in Negros Occidental is in full swing for preparations for polling centers for the 12,479 voters affected by the Kanlaon Volcano eruption.
It follows the Office of Civil Defense having ruled out the return of evacuees affected by the Kanlaon Volcano eruption to their respective areas of residence to cast their votes during the national and local polls.
In a Comelec report, Provincial Election Supervisor Atty. Ian Lee Ananoria yesterday said that the Ramon Torres Louisiana National High School in Brgy. Ma-ao, Bago City, will be the proposed alternative voting center for 2,102 voters of Brgy. Ilijan.
The 781 voters of Ara-al and Yubo barangays in La Carlota City, will still vote at their original voting centers, Ara-al and Yubo Elementary Schools, Ananoria said. In case of ash fall, the proposed alternative voting center will be the Doña Hortencia Salas Benedicto National High School, with the La Carlota SPED Integrated School as well as Cubay Elementary School to be utilized as temporary voting centers for displaced voters of La Carlota City barangays Poblacion 1 and Cubay.
The 1,390 voters of barangays Gomez and Zamora in Pontevedra will cast their votes in the town’s Antipolo Elementary and National High Schools.
The 2,116 affected voters of barangays Biak Na Bato, Cabagnaan, Mansalanao, Masulog and Sag-ang in La Castellana will cast their votes in Biak Na Bato Elementary School, La Castellana National High School, Mansalanao Elementary School, Masulog and Sag-ang Elementary Schools, respectively.
For the 6,871 voters of Minoyan barangay in Murcia, the proposed alternative voting center will be the Murcia National High School, Comelec report further stated.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology reported that Alert Level 3 remains hoisted over Kanlaon Volcano, with the permanent danger zone extended to six kilometers.
If the Alert Level is raised to 4, the Comelec estimates that more than 80,000 voters in 27 barangays of the cities of Bago, La Carlota and San Carlos, as well as the municipalities of La Castellana, Pontevedra and Murcia, are expected to cast their votes in the 22 proposed alternative voting centers.*
