Senior Citizens fall in line as they wait at the Cebu City Central School for their turn to enter their precinct to vote in the midtern elections. | Ferdinand Edralin
CEBU CITY, Philippines – Except for the stifling heat, long queues, and several malfunctioning counting machines, the first six hours of the midterm elections on Monday, May 12, in Metro Cebu were generally peaceful.
Several candidates also cast their ballots early Monday morning, including gubernatorial bet Pamela Baricuatro, the Ouano siblings—aspiring mayor Jonkie Ouano and reelectionist Mandaue City Rep. Lolypop Ouano-Dizon—as well as reelectionists Jonas Cortes (Mandaue City Mayor) and Michael Rama (Cebu City Mayor).
Voting precincts nationwide opened as early as 5 a.m., with the first two hours dedicated solely to senior citizens, persons with disabilities, and pregnant women to prioritize their convenience and safety.
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Some welcomed the Commission on Elections’ (Comelec) decision to accommodate priority voting during the first two hours of the elections.
Dante Legazpi, a bedridden senior citizen from Barangay Cambaro in Mandaue City, initially planned to vote at the Priority Polling Place.
However, he changed his mind and decided to vote at his designated precinct instead, as he wanted to personally feed his ballot into the Automated Counting Machine (ACM).
Currently, there is no ACM at the Priority Polling Precinct.
After senior citizens and persons with disabilities (PWDs) shade their ballots, these are collected by a member of the Electoral Board and fed into the ACM at their designated precincts on their behalf.
Legazpi said he was determined to vote despite his condition.
At least 3.4 million voters are expected to cast their ballots in thousands of voting precincts in Cebu, the country’s most vote-rich province. /clorenciana
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