Comelec starts poll training

CEBU, Philippines - The Commission on Elections started yesterday a three-day trainers training in preparation for the upcoming May elections.

The training was attended by the election officers, election assistants, and civil technicians from the Comelec-7.

Comelec provincial acting supervisor lawyer Eliseo Labaria said training participants will be given an examination on Friday. He said the results of the examination will be used as basis in the issuance of certification.

Those who will fail the test will not be given a certificate and will not be allowed to train the members of the Board of Election Inspectors. Labaria said that the graduates of the training will also be training the BEIs which will start on March 1.

Among the concerns raised by the participants during the training is the standard procedure in the preparation of the voting center. According to them, the procedure is important for uniformity and to avoid confusion among the members of the BEI.

Labaria said some problems that they encountered during elections are the Persons With Disability that require assistant, voting hours that end at 5 p.m. but there are still plenty of voters around that are yet to cast their votes, overlapping issues, and how to implement the 50-meter rule.

Participants of the training will be taught today of how to operate the Vote Counting Machine, from its features to the transmission of the results.

Labaria said the training is very important to avoid possible conflict in the voting center on election day. The participants were also taught how to identify party watchers and who are the other people to be allowed in the polling center.

The poll body has also urged the candidates to submit the names of authorized person to sign the appointment of watchers 15 days before the elections. Labaria added that if possible the names of the watchers should be included.

The role of the watchers is to ensure that the BEIs follow the election procedures and no cheating will happen.

Labaria appealed to those who will be members of the BEI to stay impartial.

“Ang atong mga BEI ato lang i-advise nga kinahanglan impartial ta, kay igo raman ta gapatuman sa balaod, so dili modapig sa kandidato o matabang sa pangampanya,” Labaria said. —(FREEMAN)