By Joey Gabieta
Tacloban City [October, 2008] — While there is no definite schedule yet for the holding of the plebiscite on the bid of this city to become a highly urbanized city, the Commission on Elections is now busy preparing for the said poll exercise.
Susan Collamar, city elections officer, said that as part of their preparations on the possible holding of a plebiscite in the city, the list of registered voters are now being prepared by them.
She also qualified that only those who voted during the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections would be qualified to cast their “yes” or “no” votes during the plebiscite.
“Only those who were listed during the October 29, 2007 elections are eligible to vote during the plebiscite,” Collamar said.
The Comelec is set to conduct a voter’s registration next month in time for the 2010 national elections.
The city Comelec office has received queries on whether those who registered after the barangay and SK elections could cast their votes for the HUC bid of this city.
Based on the October 29, 2007 listing of the city Comelec, Tacloban has total registered voters of 107,078.
City elections officer Collamar also said that she already made a communication the administrator of the Eastern Visayas State University (EVSU) to allow them to use some of its classrooms during the plebiscite.
She said that all schools used during previous elections would still be used for the plebiscite. The request for the use of some school rooms of EVSU was just part of their contingency plan, Collamar said.
As she said this, the city elections officer clarified that the Comelec has yet to schedule the holding of the plebiscite for the HUC bid of Tacloban.
Earlier, Mayor Alfred Romualdez announced that the plebiscite was tentatively scheduled by the Comelec on December 6.
The Comelec has to decide up to February 4, 2009 whether a plebiscite would be conducted. The said date is within the 120 days mentioned on the proclamation issued by President Macapagal-Arroyo declaring Tacloban as an HUC.
The presidential proclamation, however, has to be validated through a plebiscite called for this purpose.
The city government had allocated around P 7 million for this purpose.
Mayor Alfred Romualdez said that the funding came from the savings of the 26 departments of the city government.
“And may I just clarify that I did not asked the heads of these departments to set aside their savings. They volunteered,” Romualdez said.
“But we have enough money to fund for the plebiscite,” he added.
