CABANATUAN CITY, Nueva Ecija, (PNA) — A generally peaceful conduct of barangay elections was declared in the city as the 646 clustered precincts stopped operations and shifted to the canvassing of votes.
This was declared by the Commission on Elections (Comelec), the Philippine National Police and the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV).
They said that except for numerous phoned-in reports of massive vote-buying in several barangays here, no untoward incidents related to the electoral process have been reported.
They thanked the Cabanatuan Electric Corporation (Celcor) for the restoration of the electricity supply to at least 77 percent of the city, which in a way allay public’s fear of a disorderly conduct of election.
City mayor Julius Cesar V. Vergara has earlier reassured his constituents of the availability of the service of electricity during and after the conduct of elections in various polling places here.
Vergara said he was reassured by Celcor that a major portion of the city would be electrified to ensure a peaceful and orderly conduct of the barangay elections.
At the same time, the mayor has ordered the deployment of generator sets in all the 646 clustered precincts polling places as “standby power source.”
Engineer Rommel Hernal, Celcor chief operations manager, reported that at least 77 percent of the city has now electric power being supplied by the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines.
From October 16 up to October 26, the First Cabanatuan Venture Corp. (FCVC), the alternative power supply being operated by Celcor, has taken over the duty of providing electricity to the city when NGCP’s main power lines went down toppled by the 185-kilometer center winds of typhoon “Santi” on Oct. 11.
As of this writing, there is partial electric service in 15 out of 18 barangays north of the city.