CEBU, Philippines - Tonight we would know if there would be one more barangay in Cebu City.
This is because the much-anticipated plebiscite to decide whether Barangay Guadalupe, the biggest in terms of land area and population in Cebu City, would be held today.
If the “yes” votes would prevail, Barangay Banawa-Englis will be born.
A total of 79 clustered precincts inside the Guadalupe Elementary School will be open by 7 a.m.
Guadalupe has a total voting population of 28,435 and the officials expect a turn out of between 40 to 50 percent.
The Commission on Election (Comelec) will start distributing official ballots by 4:30 a.m. so the Board of Election Inspectors would be ready to open the precincts by 7 o’clock.
The precincts will close at 3 p.m. The Board of Canvassers will convene by 6 p.m.
At 9 p.m., the Comelec expects to release the official result.
There are 184 precincts grouped in two to three per clustered precinct. Each precinct has at least 300 but not more than 400 registered voters.
Each clustered precinct will be supervised by a BEI consisting of three members. There are 237 BEIs to serve in today’s plebiscite.
Process and prohibited acts
Cebu City South District Election Officer Edwin Cadungog said that the plebiscite will be just like the normal election.
Residents must go to their respective precincts and cast their votes. The residents are to either vote “Yes” or “No”. The simple majority rule applies.
In order for the proposed split of Banawa-Englis from Guadalupe to materialize, the “Yes” vote only has to obtain 50 percent plus one of the total votes cast.
“Even if the turnout is very low, whoever gets the majority wins,” said former Representative Antonio Cuenco.
Cuenco is the author of Republic Act 9905 or the Act Creating a Barangay to Be Known as Barangay Banawa-Englis in the City of Cebu.
Supporters and protesters of the split were given time to campaign last July 12 to July 26. Campaigning is strictly prohibited during the plebiscite day.
Cadungog said he has instructed the police to confiscate campaign materials and disperse campaigning groups should they discover any.
A gun ban and a liquor ban have also been imposed starting yesterday until today. During the plebiscite day, vote buying and vote selling in any form are also prohibited.
After the plebiscite
Cadungog said that if the “Yes” votes win, the new Barangay Banawa-Englis will start to exist although still under the governance of Barangay Guadalupe.
Section 3 of Republic Act 9905 provides that the first set of barangay officials of Barangay Banawa-Englis shall be elected in a special election to be conducted within 60 days after the ratification by the majority of the votes cast in the plebiscite.
But Cadungog said that considering the little time between now and the next elections on October last year, there might not be a special election for the purpose.
Barangay Guadalupe will thus continue to govern the new barangay, if the “Yes” vote prevails, under a “hold-over capacity.”
The new barangay will only obtain its juridical personality of corporate existence upon the election of its barangay officials as stated in Section 4 of RA 9905.
Honorarium
Meanwhile, the Comelec has requested financial aid from the Cebu City Government for the honorarium of 26 Comelec personnel who will work in the plebiscite.
The Comelec requested P52,000 for the P2,000 honorarium of each personnel that will work in the plebiscite as they are not covered by the budget provided by the national government for the conduct of the referendum.
Cadungog said the budget only allowed for the honorarium of 15 personnel. The Comelec south district office already has 30 personnel and they tapped some election officers from other LGUs to help in the plebiscite.
Heightened alert
Police placed the entire Cebu City under a heightened alert so that the law enforcement authorities can quickly respond in case of any trouble in today’s plebiscite.
Chief Inspector Enrique Belcina, the chief of the Guadalupe Police Station, said the 11 police stations of Cebu City had been directed to augment the personnel in Guadalupe in order to maintain order within the voting center.
Belcina said that Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) Director Melvin Ramon Buenafe also assured him that the personnel of the Crowd Dispersal Management (CDM) will be on standby at Camp Sotero Cabahug ready to respond to whatever needs.
The members of the Motorcycle Riding Unit (MRU) have been also instructed to conduct patrols in Guadalupe.
According to Belcina that since the campaign period already lapsed the other night, any person who will be campaigning either for “Yes” or “No” vote can be arrested, although the police official failed to say whether the wearing of T-shirts printed with words Yes or No is illegal.
Population
Guadalupe is considered as the biggest barangay in Cebu City.
Records from the National Statistics Office reveal that the current population of Guadalupe is around 47,700, with Banawa Englis residents numbering over 23,700. The number is considered sufficient to create a new barangay.
Guadalupe’s land area and population is comparable to an average town in Cebu Province. — with Rene U. Borromeo/NLQ