Despite floods, no postponement of Oct 25 polls in Tarlac town

Despite being placed under a state of calamity, La Paz town in Tarlac province will still hold the scheduled barangay (village) and Sangguniang Kabataan (youth council) elections on October 25, the municipal mayor said Friday. In a radio interview, Mayor Michael Manuel said his constituents had made it clear that they do not want a postponement of the grassroots elections. "Ang eleksyon, tinitiyak ko matutuloy. Hinihingi ng ating kababayan na ituloy (I can assure my constituents [that] the elections will push through as scheduled. It is what they want)," Manuel said in an interview on dzBB radio. The town was declared under a state of calamity Thursday due to floods reaching up to waist level. (See: Tarlac town placed under state of calamity)

Manuel said that as of Friday morning, the floods had subsided by five inches, and were knee-high. He said the floods affected at least 463 families or 18,000 people. The town's immediate needs now are food and water, he added. On the other hand, at least 2,700 hectares of crops were destroyed due to the floods, he said. "Aanihiin pero inabot ng baha at nalusaw na (We were supposed to harvest them but the floods destroyed them)," Manuel said. The mayor also asked President Benigno Aquino III, who is also from Tarlac province, to rehabilitate the nearby river so the town will no longer be a catch-basin for floodwaters. — RSJ, GMANews.TV