1 month ago
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BACOLOD CITY — Commission on Elections Chairman George Erwin Garcia said on Thursday that the May 12 elections will push through even amid the threat of major eruption of Kanlaon Volcano in Negros Island.
"There is no reason to postpone the elections on May 12," said Garcia.
If it is postponed, it should not be more than 30 days after the calamity occurred based on Section 6 of the Omnibus Election Code, the Comelec chairman pointed out.
The poll body said it is expecting that a total of 113,461 voters would be affected if the alert level is raised to 4 due to eruption.
Negros Occidental bears the brunt the most as a total of 75,771 voters would be affected, while Ne-gros Oriental has a total of 37,690 voters mostly in Canlaon City.
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Data from the poll body showed that if Alert Level 4 is hoisted, La Castellana would be hit hardest with 31,723 voters to be affected.
Other local government units that will be hit by the eruption are Murcia with 15,723 voters; La Carlota City 14,098, Bago City 11,127 and Pontevedra 3, 137.
In Canlaon City, Negros Oriental has a total of 37,690 affected voters in all barangay (villages) will be affected.
The hardest hit area will be Brgy. Panibigan with 4,572; Brgy. Masulog, 3,655; Brgy. Pula, 3,480 and Brgy. Linothangan, 2,799.
If Kanlaon Volcano erupts, the permanent danger zone will be expanded from six kilometers to 10 kilometers.
Office of Civil Defense Administrator Ariel Nepomuceno said it is important that the people can vote even if a calamity occurs in Kanlaon.
The Philippines has 300 volcanoes of which 24 are active, he said, placing the Philippines on the top of the list of the world risk index.
"It is a huge red flag that requires us to always be ready during elections," said Nepomuceno.
