MANILA, Philippines (May 9, 2016) — Voting persons with disabilities (PWDs) and senior citizens encountered difficulty casting their votes due to lack of people who will assist them.
Polling precincts, where most of the elderly people are registered, were located at the third floor of the school building, giving them difficulty climbing up the stairs.
A voter named Jojo Tugay recounted the problem of these voters. “This morning, voters were mostly seniors who cannot walk anymore. They really had a hard time climbing up the stairs. Some even climbed up to the fourth floor. I really felt sorry for them,” said Tugay.
Aside from several elders who insisted to vote, many complained because of their missing names on the voters registration list.
Another voter, Elizabeth Canilao stated: “Why were our names lost this time? Every election day, we were able to cast our votes then.”
Marly Barogo came all the way from General Trias, Cavite just to vote. She was already at the polling precinct in España, Manila by 6 AM, but she failed to cast her vote. While her name was included on the list, she said it was marked with a red slash and “transfer”. She planned to wait for representatives from Comelec, but no one appeared. She said that her vote was wasted in spite of her effort to travel from the province.
Voters have no one else to approach except the PPCRV assistance desk. That is why PPCRV called the attention of Comelec to add more personnel that would roam around voting precincts.
Rolando Ingarano, another voter, said: “I wish that we could know that they are here and that they go on rounds. There are times that they arrive late in the afternoon, when people are irritated already and they will not vote and just go home.”
On the other hand, there were no reported malfunctioning vote counting machines at Ramon Magsaysay High School.
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