CEBU CITY — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will push through with the scheduled mock polls this weekend despite the cellular phone signal shutdown in Cebu on Saturday.
Acting Cebu provincial election supervisor Jerome Brillantes said in an interview Thursday the signal shutdown won’t stop them from conducting the mock elections in Barangays Mabolo and Lusaran in Cebu City and in Barangays Poblacion and Cabotongan in Santander town.
Brillantes said the signal shutdown will be a challenge, but it will also be an opportunity for the Comelec in Cebu to find ways to address this particular problem should this happen during this year’s elections.
The shutdown, he said, would even help them in coming up with contingency plan for the May 13 mid-term polls.
“Actually, this will give us a foresight of the problems we are going to encounter during the May elections in the event the signal would be shut off,” Brillantes said.
The Comelec is conducting the mock elections to test the automated voting machines, transmittal of votes and results to the canvassers in the head office, as well as its new Voter Registration Verification System.
The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) has earlier approved the request of the Philippine National Police in Cebu to shut down the cellular signal during the three major Sinulog activities on Saturday and Sunday.
The signal will be shut off from 3 to 10 a.m. for the fluvial procession and later in the afternoon up to 8 p.m. during the solemn procession on Saturday.
The signal will again be shut down on Sunday from 3 a.m. to 7 p.m. for the Sinulog 2019 grand parade.
