With Congress and President Rodrigo Duterte likely to pass and approve the bill postponing the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections to next year, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) yesterday said it was looking into the possibility of reusing some 29 million official ballots that the agency had already printed. Comelec Chair Andres Bautista said the poll body might use stickers or correction fluid to change the date on the ballots, or just leave the date as is and just pass a resolution allowing it. “One of the options is to put sticker (on the ballots), which could entail additional expenses. Or we can pass a resolution stating that these ballots can be used to the date of elections as to whenever they will be reset. It will be up to Comelec en banc to decide at the right time,” he told reporters. Section 181 of the Omnibus Election Code provides that the official ballots shall “bear at the top on the middle portion thereof the coat of arms of the Republic of the Philippines, the words ‘Official Ballot,’ the name of the city or the municipality and province in which the election is held, the date of the election.” Last Wednesday, Comelec said it had already printed a total of 27,950,855 barangay and SK ballots out of the 59,548,410 ballots needed to be printed. The ballots contain the original date of the elections—October 23, 2017. It was also on Wednesday that the Senate passed the bill postponing the polls on third and final reading. On Sept. 11, the House of Representatives also approved a similar bill. President Duterte earlier certified the postponement bill as urgent. Malacañang asked Congress to postpone the elections, saying the government needed more time to weed out barangay officials suspected of involvement in illegal drug activities. Read more: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/932907/barangay-elections-sk-elections-sangguniang-kabataan-comelec-reuse-of-ballots#ixzz4tZuh715t Follow us: @inquirerdotnet on Twitter | inquirerdotnet on Facebook

Manila, Philippines – Simula kagabi, nakapagtala ang Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) ng apat na malalakas na lindol sa iba’t ibang lalawigan sa bansa.

Kanina lamang, eksaktong 4:47, niyanig ang Bukidnon ng magnitude 5.3 na lindol sa layong 14 na kilometro sa silangan ng kalilangan at may lalim na 4 na kilometro.

Dahil dito, naramdaman ang intensity III sa Cagayan De Oro City ilang oras lamang matapos ang intensity I na naitala mula sa magnitude 4.4 na lindol sa Lanao Del Sur, kaninang mag-aalas-dos ng madaling araw.

Samantala, niyanig din ng magkasabay na lindol ang Occidental Mindoro at Batangas kagabi.

Alas-9:30 kagabi nang gumulat ang lakas na magnitude 5.6 na lindol sa Occidental Mindoro.

Kasabay nito, niyanig din ang Calatagan, Batangas ng lakas na 4.9 magnitude na lindol.

Sinasabing pawang tectonic ang pinagmulan ng mga naturang lindol na wala rin namang naitalang aftershocks at casualties.