COMELEC-Kalibo to use new ballot boxes

Kalibo, Aklan -- New ballot boxes will be used for the May 2007 elections in Kalibo.

Francisco Palomar, newly-assigned Election Officer of Aklan’s capital town said at least 175 new ballot boxes will soon be received by the municipality from COMELEC-Manila. He said this is to augment the number of the current ballot boxes because some cannot be used as they contain materials/old ballots which are subjects of election dispute.

Palomar gave the assurance that Kalibo is already prepared for the coming elections and foresees a peaceful and orderly one in this town and in the whole province, with the recent signing of the peace covenant of Aklan candidates which accomplished a 100% attendance.

To ensure that campaign posters are also properly displayed, COMELEC-Kalibo and the Philippine National Police headed by Kalibo PNP Chief Arnold Ardiente went around the town to scrape off or detach illegally - placed posters, Palomar revealed.

Poblacion Kalibo’s common poster areas are located at the Kalibo Plaza in front of the Cathedral and at Roxas Avenue, while barangays have each one common poster areas.

According to Palomar, all Kalibo barangays observed the posting of campaign materials in common poster areas except Mobo, a barangay across the Aklan River.

Meanwhile, Kalibo’s former Election Officer Lorena Tumbagahan is back in Aklan to do the duties of an Acting Provincial Election Supervisor (PES) of COMELEC-Aklan.

Tumbagahan was initially tranfered to Dumarao, Capiz as part of COMELEC’s regulation that an election officer could not stay more than four (4) years in a certain municipality.

Tumbagahan served as Kalibo’s Election Officer for four years and concurrently as OIC-PES of COMELEC-Aklan before her transfer to Dumarao.

Before her COMELEC-Aklan comeback, Tumbagahan found it hard to commute to Dumarao to render her duties as Election Officer and also to report to the provincial office in Aklan to function as OIC-PES.

Tumbagahan also emphasized the preparedness of Aklan for the forthcoming elections. She reminded all registered voters to look for their names in the lists now being posted in bulletin boards in their respective munipalities so they will know their specific precincts.

Tumbagahan revealed that some 50 print and broadcast personalities had been accredited by COMELEC-Aklan for coverage of the May 2007 elections in the province. (PIA/Venus G. Villanueva)