Lawyer Lionel Marco Castillano, acting regional election supervisor of the Commission on Elections - Central Visayas. (PNA file photo)
DUMAGUETE CITY – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is urging the public to formalize in writing their sentiments or petitions on the proposed deferment of the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) in Negros Oriental in time for the upcoming public hearings.
The hearings on June 27 to 29 are open to all but not everyone will have a chance to speak.
“Given the time constraints during the conduct of the public hearings next week, it is best that people submit their individual or collective stands through a position paper, a resolution, or any written form that carries their signatures,” lawyer Lionel Marco Castillano, Comelec acting regional election supervisor of Central Visayas, said in a statement on Friday.
The poll body has invited representatives from the Philippine National Police, Armed Forces of the Philippines, Department of Education, and Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting; local government officials; and barangay officials as “primary election stakeholders.”
One speaker may be given five to 10 minutes to air his or her sentiment, or that of the group, Castillano said.
A written form can assure the Comelec of the exact sentiments of the people as verbalizing their stand during the public consultations may be “lost in translation”, he added.
He said the position papers or resolutions will be consolidated to help the Comelec en banc in its decision to postpone or go ahead with the BSKE in the province on Oct. 30, as scheduled nationwide.
The documents may be submitted to the hearing officer during the public consultation or to the city or municipal election officer in cases where one is unable the three-day activity.
The provincial election supervisors of the other Central Visayas provinces of Bohol, Cebu, and Siquijor will be joining other Comelec officials from the region to act as hearing officers, Castillano said. (PNA)
