Election Campaigns Wrap Up

Finally, the three months of intense campaigning will officially end at midnight. Hurray! No campaigning is allowed tomorrow (Sunday) in order to allow a cooling-off period before the polls on Monday, May 10. What a relief - the politicians and their campaign jingles are beginning to annoy me.

I’m tapping my fingers on the table (or anything), anxiously waiting for it all to be over. I must admit I’ve got mixed feelings about this election. I can’t wait for the day after tomorrow and find out who wins. Candidates to watch out for in Talakag are:

Jess Paras (the new “kid” on the block) for Congressman against incumbent Congressman Pancrudo.

Ex-mayor Amado Noble, Sr (Mayor Nestor Macapayag’s brother-in-law) for Vice-Mayor under the Nationalista Party against incumbent Vice-Mayor Sulatan who is also Mayor Macapayag’s running mate under the Lakas Kampi CMD Party.

There are also fresh and new candidates running for Sanguniang Bayan posts. It’s a case of who’ll get in and who’ll get dropped from the old incumbents.

All eyes will also be on the new Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) voting and counting machines (being used for the first time) to see if they will work without a glitch. As the race to deliver these machines with the correct memory cards to precincts all over the country, I can confirm that Talakag Poblacion (comprising 5 barangays) already received and tested theirs yesterday (see photo below).

I’ve been informed that there will be three Board of Election Inspectors in each precinct to oversee the voting procedures. Priority numbers will also be issued to help control the flow of voters in Talakag Central School.

So all we have to do now is get to the polling stations on Monday, vote and wait (fingers crossed!)