Comelec chairperson George Erwin Garcia (File photo) MANILA - The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Monday said it is "70 percent prepared" to hold the Dec. 5 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) amid moves to postpone it anew. "More or less we are already 70 percent prepared. This September, we are aiming to complete printing all the needed ballots and other documents needed for the barangay and SK polls," said Comelec chairperson George Erwin Garcia on the sidelines of the poll body's 82nd founding anniversary. He added that the poll body will start shipping election paraphernalia to the different parts of the county by October. At the same time, he noted that they will be appearing before the Senate on Tuesday to give their opinion on the holding of the 2022 BSKE. "On our part, we respect the power of Congress to postpone the elections and to reset to a later date. But for us, whether it will push through or not, we continue to prepare.
MANILA - The Department of Education (DepEd) on Friday said it is ready for the scheduled opening of classes on Aug. 22. "All systems go na tayo for the opening of classes," DepEd spokesperson Michael Poa said in a press conference. Poa said a total of 24,175 public and private schools nationwide or 46 percent will implement five-day face-to-face classes, while 29,721 schools or about 51.8 percent will implement blended learning modality. Meanwhile, the remaining 1.29 percent or about 1,004 schools will conduct distance learning. Poa, citing Aug. 19 DepEd data, said the current total enrollment on the basic education level is 27 million learners, which is 96 percent of the agency's target of 28.6 million. DepEd Undersecretary Epimaco Densing III earlier said schools will be given options of in-person, blended, or full-distance learning only until Oct. 31. After this, all enrolled students will be required to attend face-to-face classes, under DepEd Order (DO) 034, series