27,000 voters expected at Commonwealth High School

At least 27,000 voters are expected to flock to the Commonwealth High School (CHS) in Quezon City on Monday to cast their ballots for the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections.

Supervising officer Ester Odtujan, the CHS houses 69 clustered precincts each with 400 to 600 registered voters.

Odtujan signaled the start of voting at the school at exactly 7 a.m.

The CHS is among the four public elementary schools in Barangay Commonwealth, the second most populous barangay in the Philippines, where residents can vote for their next village leaders.

While the CHS expects thousands of voters, Odtujan said the Commission on Elections (Comelec) did not give them a master list of voters.

Odtujan said Comelec instead provided a location map of the clustered precincts at CHS, which makes it hard for voters to locate them if they fail to remember their respective precincts.

“Kung ‘di nila matatandaan kung saan sila sa master list, iisa-isahin nila ‘yan (clustered precincts). Pero kung natandaan naman iyong precinct number madali lang naman,” Odtujan said.

“Tinipid po ng Comelec. Walang master list,” she added.

Barangay volunteers have set-up a help desk at the CHA gymnasium to help voters locate their respective precincts.

Some voters, however, had to roam around the school premises to look for their clustered precinct.

Meanwhile, Odtujan said they lack supplies such as meter sticks and flashlights provided by the Quezon City engineering office.

Odtujan said the CHS only each has 30 flashlights and meter sticks.

“Yung flashlight instead na 69 precinct, 69 dapat ibigay na flashlight it is only 30. Ang meter stick 30 din galing sa city engieering ng city hall. Ang sabi nila kailangan daw mag-request,” Odtujan said. —ALG, GMA News