Aquino dissatisfied with delays in barangay, SK polls

UPDATED 1: 30 p.m., TARLAC CITY —President Benigno Simeon Aquino III said Monday he was not satisfied with the preparations for the barangay and SK polls as the delivery of election paraphernalia in several areas nationwide was delayed. At a media briefing after he voted in Barangay Central here, Aquino said he received word two or three days before the elections that the delivery in some areas would be delayed. "Paano ka naman masa-satisfy dun eh compared to the automated elections medyo mas simpleng undertaking ito (How can you be satisfied when this is a simpler undertaking compared to the automated elections)?" Aquino said. "Nakalagay naman sa batas nung itinalaga itong petsang ito, na matagal na dapat napaghandaan. Di nga mukhang napaghandaan ng maayos. Kailangang malaman kung ano ang dahilan (The law states the date for this, so preparations should've been done a long time ago. It doesn't look like preparations were that organized. We must know the reason why)," he said. The president said he has already tasked Executive Secretary Paquito "Jojo" Ochoa Jr. to contact the Commission on Elections (Comelec), and Ochoa was told voting hours could be extended in areas where the delivery of election materials was delayed. Aquino said he would also look into whether a holiday can be declared Tuesday in specific areas where voting does not take place within the day. In Manila, the Comelec also expressed dissatisfaction over the conduct of the elections. "He is not alone siguro. We may share that dissatifaction," Comelec chairman Jose Melo told reporters during a press briefing on Monday. He explained that the poll body was not satisfied because of the delay in the bidding of election materials and that the National Printing Office (NPO) did not perform "up to par." The NPO was tasked to print the official ballots. "Their (NPO) printing presses are not very modern," he said. Comelec Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal earlier said the ballot printing was supposed to run for 45 days but was shortened to 16 days, resulting in more printing errors. Melo, however, refused to elaborate any further. According to the Comelec, the delays in the elections were caused by the late delivery of poll materials. At a press briefing, Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said the problems were caused by road hitches and shipping delays. "There were several instances where delivery trucks sufferred flat tires, in some cases they left Manila late because of shipping scheduling and flights not being available. (But) they tried to recover as much as possible because the schedule was very, very tight," he said. Melo said another reason for the delay was the reprinting of some ballots whose serial numbers were unintentionally duplicated. However, the Comelec also issued Resolution 9079 allowing Board of Election Tellers to add one arabic numeral after the last digit of the duplicated serial number to render the ballots usable. Smooth voting However, even as he expressed disappointment over the delays in the delivery of poll paraphernalia, Aquino voted smoothly at the Central Azucarrera de Tarlac Elementary School, as it took him only around five minutes to cast his vote. Aquino arrived at the polling precinct at 10:00 a.m. and by 10:15 a.m., he had finished lining up and casting his vote. This was a far cry from the presidential election in May this year when Aquino had to wait in line for more than three hours to cast his vote, due to a glitch in the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machine used there. Those who accompanied Aquino on Monday were his sisters Ballsy Aquino-Cruz and Pinky Aquino-Abellada, who also voted in the same polling precinct. Delayed polls At the Comelec, poll officials could not immediately name the areas where there were delays in the opening of the polls. However, Melo said the elections in Regions 1, 2 (except for Isabela and Nueva Vizcaya), and 5 (except for Legazpi and Catanduanes) were relatively "okay." The elections in Legaspi City will be held on Tuesday. Jimenez likewise said polls were also going smoothly in Regions 3 (execpt in Paniqui, Tarlac where elections in two villages were earlier postponed), 10, 11 (except sitio Gisok and barangay Demoloc in Malita, Davao Del Sur), 12, and the National Capital Region. He said the Comelec is still getting confirmation from the other regions. "We are continuing to gather results. We'll be geeting them before noon today... this is as of 8 a.m. today," he said. Jimenez said elections will still push through in those areas if election materials arrive before noon on Monday. According to Comelec Resolution 9078, barangay and SK elections can be extended until 5:00 p.m. if the polls did not open at 7:00 a.m., Larrazabal said. Section 5 of the Omnibus Election Code says that an election can only be postponed "for any serious cause such as violence, terrorism, loss or destruction of election paraphernalia or records, force majeure, and other analogous causes of such a nature that the holding of a free, orderly and honest election should become impossible in any political subdivision." The poll body, however, is only given 30 days to reschedule the election in a certain area. Improved situation Meanwhile, Melo said the conduct of barangay and SK elections has "greatly improved" since Monday morning. He said that barangay and SK polls in regions 10, 11, and 12 were at 100 percent, meaning all election materials were delivered there and voting opened on time. "Those areas were farthest so we prioritized delivery there," he said in Filipino. He also cited the voting status of the conduct of the polls (from delivery of election materials to opening of polling precincts) in various areas:

CAR: 90 percent;

Region 1 (96.5 percent);

Region 2 (97 percent);

Region 3 (94 percent);

Regions 4a and 4b (90 percent);

Region 6 (99 percent);

Region 7 (93 percent);

Region 8 (90 percent);

ARMM (95 percent), and

CARAGA (96 percent). Melo said they will release a list of areas where elections have been postponed by 3 p.m. — VVP/RSJ, GMANews.TV