Church’s poll board launches OGV drive

DUMAGUETE CITY, Philippines — The Diocesan Electoral Board of the Diocese of Dumaguete is now set to launch the One Good Vote campaign on September 2 at the Foundation University in this capital city of Negros Oriental.

Monsignor Julius Heruela, DEB convener, announced this during a meeting of its executive committee, which was reactivated also in preparation for the 2016 national elections.

Heruela said the One Good Vote is an election campaign of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting nationwide, the local chapter of which that he chairs is a member of the DEB.

The One Good Vote is a flagship program of the PPCRV to focus on voters’ education, as well as its LASER test campaign, which will center on voting with a conscience and the rejection of vote-buying, Heruela said.

The launching of the One Good Vote will also coincide with the university convocation that the Commission on Elections local officials will also attend to speak on the coming elections.

After the launching at Foundation University, the One Good Vote campaign will be piloted in Valencia town where students will be trained to handle voters’ education, and then to various parishes through the Basic Ecclesial Communities, Heruela said.

The DEB, scheduled to convene as a whole sometime in the middle of September, will also monitor election materials and equipment, train the Board of Election Inspectors, train on the use of the automated voting machines alongside COMELEC, and conduct candidates’ forums, among other things.

Heruela said more activities will be done later on, especially after the filing of certificates of candidacies, which is set on October 12 to 16, this year. (FREEMAN)