(Eagle News)—-Precincts across the country opened on Monday, May 14, to allow Filipinos to vote in the twice-delayed Sangguniang Kabataan and barangay elections.
The Commission on Elections said the precincts opened around 7 a.m.
The New Era Elementary School in Dasmariñas, Cavite opened its doors around that time to voters who were eagerly waiting to cast their votes.
At the Las Piñas City Science High School, a huge board containing the list of precincts and their locations was put up by the entrance to help voters determine where they were to cast their ballots.
One person helped assist the voters, who came in droves as early as past 7 a.m.
At the Las Piñas school, some voters had a hard time looking for their names on the voters list.
A 58-year-old who refused to be identified recounted how he had to line up at the voters assistance center to ask in which precinct he was supposed to vote.
He said this was after he found out the list of voters in the precinct number listed in his voters’ ID did not contain his name.
“I had to line up at the senior citizens’ line to look for my name,” he said.
Another woman angrily left a precinct after she was not allowed to vote because she could not present any proof of identification.
The precincts will remain open until 5 p.m., but extensions may also be given.
The barangay and SK elections have been delayed twice, in October 2016 and in 2017.
In this year’s polls, teachers were for the first time allowed to refuse election duties under the Election Service Reform Act or Republic Act 10756.
Those who did oblige to serve would be given honoraria, with those earning less than P250,000 annually exempt from the 5 percent withholding tax.