• Palace welcomes early completion of ballot printing for May 9 elections
• Goverment doing its best in addressing impact of El Nino, says Palace official

In a radio interview over Radyo ng Bayan on Sunday, Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. noted the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) report that all the ballots were printed in only 49 days.

The COMELEC began printing the ballots last February 8 with the target date of completion set for April 25.

“Malugod po nating tinatanggap ang balita ng COMELEC hinggil sa pagtatapos ng paglilimbag ng 56.9 milyong balota na naisagawa sa loob lamang ng 49 na araw, 49 days o 18 days ahead of schedule. Nalagpasan nito ang mga naunang record na naitala noong 2013 na kung kailan ay nakapaglimbag ng 52 milyong balota sa loob ng 57 araw,” said Coloma.

“Ang nailimbag ng National Printing Office na balota para sa 2016 elections ay 56.9 million ballots o 8 percent ang paghigit doon sa bilang na 52.3 million ballots na inilimbag noong 2013…iyong bilang ng balota na kanilang inilambag noong 2013 ay 14 na porsiyentong mas mababa pero mas mabilis na natapos ng National Printing Office ang paglilimbag sa loob lamang ng 49 na araw,” Coloma further said.

The Palace official said the printing of all ballots would ensure that the upcoming elections would be orderly and on schedule.

“Malaki ang magiging ambag ng pagkumpleto sa pag-imprenta ng balota sa pagsisiguro nang maayos at nasa takdang oras na pagsasagawa ng pambansang halalan,” said Coloma, adding that verifications of the printed ballots are ongoing.

“Mayroong maliit na bahagi ng itinuring natin na isasailalim pa sa kaukulang beripikasyon. Gayunpaman, masasabi natin katulad ng ipinahayag ng COMELEC na ang pagwawakas ng paglilimbag ng balota ay pagpapatunay sa mabungang pag-uugnayan ng COMELEC at National Printing Office. Ang National Printing Office o NPO ay nasa ilalim ng ating tanggapan — ang Presidential Communications Operations Office,” Coloma added.

Meanwhile, Coloma said the overseas absentee voting, which began on Saturday, turned out well.

“Tungkol naman sa overseas absentee voting ayon sa ating mga natunghayang ulat, naging matagumpay ang pagsisimula ng pagboto ng humigit-kumulang 1.38 milyong migranteng Pilipino o overseas Filipinos sa iba’t ibang panig ng mundo,” said Coloma.

“Nakikiisa po tayo sa COMELEC sa kanilang hangarin na mas maraming bilang ng ating mga kababayan sa ibang bansa ang lumahok sa halalan at itaguyod ang kanilang karapatang bumoto,” he further said.

COMELEC chairperson Andres Bautista described the printing of ballots as the fastest in automated election history.

Bautista also noted that this year’s ballot design is shorter compared to the ballots used in 2010 and 2013, which made the printing faster.

The COMELEC chief said at least 77 % of all printed ballots have been verified using the voted counting machines as of Friday. PND (jm)

The El Niño Task Force is headed by Socio-economic Planning Secretary and National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) Director General Emmanuel Esguerra.

Coloma said the Roadmap Against the Impact of El Nino (RAIN) being implemented by the task force has ensured sufficient food supply and has kept food prices stable in areas hit by the weather phenomenon.

“Batay sa ulat ng El Niño Task Force sa pagdinig ng Senate Committee on Finance noong nakaraang Biyernes, April 8, naibsan sa pamamagitan ng iba’t ibang programang ipinatupad ng pamahalaan ang epekto ng tagtuyot sa aspeto ng pagiging sapat ang suplay ng pagkain at sa pagpapanatiling stable ang presyo ng mga pangunahing bilihin,” said Coloma in a radio interview over Radyo ng Bayan.

“Kabilang sa mga hakbang ng El Niño Task Force na nakapaloob sa kanilang inihanda at ipinapatupad na Roadmap Against the Impact of El Niño: Una, pagbibigay ng kaukulang production support sa mga magsasaka gaya ng irrigation at pamamahagi ng binhi sa mga non-vulnerable at mildly affected na lalawigan; ikalawa, napapanahong pag-angkat ng NFA (National Food Authority) ng buffer stock ng bigas; at ikatlo, pagpapatupad ng price freeze sa mga lugar na nag-deklara ng state of calamity,” added Coloma.

The Palace official also noted Secretary Esguerra’s report during a recent Senate hearing.

“While drought usually entails low production leading to high agricultural product prices, inflation data show that prices of food, particularly rice, have been low and stable in the past months. In fact for March 2016, despite the El Niño phenomenon, rice prices remained lower than in the previous year (-1.7% in March from -2.0% in February) and have been declining consistently since October 2015. Likewise, the price of vegetables, while remaining elevated since November 2015, has trended down after peaking in January 2016, declining by 2.9 percent in March 2016 from the previous month, for a total decline of 7.8 percent since the beginning of the year. Supply and buffer stock management is being done well with timely purchases. Moreover, despite the lack of water, there were no reported breakout of diseases and epidemic, though we do not discount that there could still be health issues in some places. The food inflation has been in check since also to be born out by hunger data from the Social Weather Stations of SWS conducted from December 5-8, 2015, the 2015 average hunger rate for that period at 13.4 percent, is the lowest annual average hunger rate since 2004,” the NEDA chief said in his report.

Coloma said the El Nino Task Force is also taking steps to improve its service to the Filipino people.

“Ayon din sa El Niño Task Force, mas lalo pang pai-igtingin at palalawakin ang ipinapatupad na mga hakbang sa pamamagitan ng mga sumusunod: Una, pagpapahusay ng distribution system sa mga lalawigan at mga bayan upang masiguro ang maayos at epektibong pamamahagi ng supplies at pagpapatupad ng mga support programs ng mga lokal na pamahalaan. Ikalawa, pagpapalawig at pagdaragdag ng suporta sa mga apektadong magsasaka sa pamamagitan ng emergency employment at cash-for-work program. At ikatlo, pagpapahusay ng koordinasyon sa pagitan ng mga ahensiya at mga lokal na pamahalaan upang higit pang mailapit ang serbisyo at tulong sa mga apektadong pamilya,” said Coloma. PND (jm)