SWAT Cops Guard Official Ballots For Cebu City

Members of the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) are guarding a total of of 837 boxes containing official ballots for the city which are stored at the Cebu City Treasurer’s Office (CTO).

The police will also closely watch security cameras at the Cebu City Hall, while a fire truck from the Bureau of Fire Protection is standing by.

The boxes of official ballots were delivered to the CTO on Monday on board two 10-wheeler wing vans from 2Go Shipping after these arrived from Manila.

Four police cars and two SWAT team members on motorcycles escorted the van from 2Go warehouse in the North Reclamation Area to the Cebu City Hall.

Lawyers Edwin Cadungog and Michael Sarno, election officers of the north and south districts of the city, respectively, opened the vans in the presence of lawyers representing presidential candidates Vice President Jejomar Binay, Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, Sen. Grace Poe and Mar Roxas.

Cebu City Treasurer Diwa Cuevas and Assistant City Treasurer Tessie Camarillo received the official ballots.

A total of 450 boxes of ballots will be delivered to the voting centers in the north district while the 387 will be for the south district.

Other election paraphernalia also arrived last week at the cebu City Hall and were stored in the CTO.

Cuevas said they’re waiting for the arrival of the official ballot secrecy folders, which the voters will use while voting and in feeding the ballots into the vote counting machines (VCM).

The VCMs arrived last week in Cebu and are being secured in a warehouse in Mandaue City.

Cadungog said the VCMs will be distributed to the different voting precincts on May 6 and will be tested and sealed from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. on the same day.

Official ballots and other election materials will be distributed starting at 1 a.m. on May 9 as all these materials should be in place before 6 a.m., when the voting centers open, Cadungog said. (PNA) FFC/EB/EBP