Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 30) — Around 2,500 volunteers for the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) from areas in the Bangsamoro region backed out from poll duties, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said Monday.
“Sa buong Bangsamoro po, 2,500 ang hindi magsisilbi na mga guro pero meron po kaming 3,000 na personnel ng PNP (Philippine National Police) na sadya po naming tinrain para makapagsilbi as electoral board members sa araw na ‘to,” Comelec Chairperson George Garcia told reporters.
[Translation: In the whole Bangsamoro, 2,500 teachers will not be able to serve, but we have 3,000 PNP personnel that we specially trained to serve as electoral board members today.]
Garcia said their reasons for backing out vary, but he added that kinships in many areas in the region are very tight and some volunteers may have chosen not to be involved in the election process.
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“Dapat kausapin din natin ang DepEd (Department of Education) kasama na po ang MBHTE (Ministry of Basic, Higher and Technical Education) sapagka’t kapag ikaw po ay na-train na namin medyo naggastos na rin kami,” he said.
“Dapat wala pong back out kasi may liability ka na at may responsibility ka na para po makapaglingkod,” he added.
[Translation: We should also talk to the DepEd including the MBHTE because if you have been trained, we have already spent money. They should not have backed out because they already are a liability and they have responsibility to serve.]
Garcia said they will deal with the withdrawal of volunteers after the BSKE and said they are prioritizing the smooth flow of the elections.
An additional 800 policemen will be deployed to the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) for the BSKE to reinforce security in areas considered as poll hotspots.
As of Oct. 20, a total of 361 villages nationwide are in the red category of PNP’s list of election hotspots, where around 70% are in BARMM.
