(Screengrab from Comelec Facebook live video) MANILA - Close to 90 percent or more than 58 million ballots for the May 9, national and local (NLE) polls have already been printed at the National Printing Office (NPO) in Quezon City, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) reported on Thursday. In a press briefing, Commissioner George Erwin Garcia said a total of 58,838,453 ballots representing 87.2 percent of the total number of ballots to be printed numbering 67,442,616, have already been printed. Of the 17 regions, the ballots for the National Capital Region (NCR) and Region 4-A except Quezon Province have not been completed. As of 8 a.m. Thursday, only 671,154 or 9.17 percent have been printed of the 7,322,361 total ballots needed to be printed in NCR while there are 5,816,117 or 74.86 percent already printed out of the total 7,769,073 total ballots for Calabarzon. Garcia said a total of 105,853 ballots needed to be reprinted after being found defective. On the other hand, the Comelec
(File photo) MANILA - Commission on Elections (Comelec) Commissioner George Garcia on Thursday said the poll body has relaxed some of the guidelines on election campaigning activities. Garcia said the Comelec en banc on Wednesday approved the recalibration of the rules in-person campaigning. "Our law department will issue necessary resolution, but in advance, we say although there is no Comelec Campaign Committee (permit) at Level 1 and Level 2, but you will still get municipal or city permits because it is required under Section 87 of the Omnibus Election Code," he said in a press briefing. In the previous Comelec's in-person guidelines, no election campaign activity shall be allowed without first obtaining permission from the corresponding Comelec Campaign Committee (CCC). Garcia said since the Covid-19 protocols have been relaxed, some adjustments should also be made. "We will allow 100 percent capacity for Level 1 and Level 2, 70 percent. This is the Commission&#
(PNA file photo) MANILA-The Commission on Elections (Comelec) officials told senators Thursday that precautions over health protocols had prompted the poll body's earlier decision to disallow the observation of printing of ballots for the May polls. The closed-door executive session at an Intramuros restaurant was converted into a public hearing with Sen. Ma. Imelda Josefa Remedios "Imee" Marcos presiding over the second hearing of the Committee on Electoral Reforms and People's Participation. Marcos is the sibling of presidential frontrunner candidate Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. During the hearing, Comelec Commissioner Marlon S. Casquejo said the initial decision to disallow observers had been due to the pandemic but said the poll body has since considered and will now allow observation and inspection of the ballot printing process. "We apologize for that. That was the time when Covid (cases) were very high and it happened that the printing process
Tanzania exported 5,362.9 tons of meat worth 22,442,111.96 U.S. dollars between July 2021 and January 2022, the Minister for Livestock and Fisheries, Mashimba Ndaki, said.
Brasilia [Brazil], February 6 (ANI/Xinhua): Brazil registered 197,442 COVID-19 infections and 1,308 deaths in the last 24 hours, bringing its nationwide counts to 26,473,273 and 631,802 respectively, the National Council of Health Secretaries said Saturday.