BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL G. BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – The Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) in Negros Occidental is looking for volunteers for the May 9 national and local elections.
PPCRV head Reverend Father Chris Gonzales said they continue to enlist volunteers, especially those from the local parishes belonging to the dioceses of Bacolod, Kabankalan and San Carlos.
The PPCRV is a non-partisan, non-sectarian, non-profit organization affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church in the Philippines. It works to ensure free, fair and fraud-free elections.
So far, Gonzales said, they have 1,500 volunteers all over Negros Occidental.
PPCRV has been the “citizens’ arm” of the Commission of Elections since 2010. It conducts an unofficial parallel count of returns after the election.
This April 23, PPCRV will hold a general assembly for volunteers where they would also undergo orientation on their respective responsibilities.
With the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic not yet over, Gonzales said they will limit the number of individuals who will attend “in person” with each parish in the province sending their representatives; the rest will attend the assembly online.
Gonzales also said volunteers don’t need to be directly working inside voting centers since some of the volunteers have yet to reach voting age.
PPCRV’s other activities are advocating for electoral reforms, coordinating parishes to conduct poll-watching, providing legal assistance related to elections, reporting of electoral violations, providing voters’ assistance services, and voters’ education./PN
