MANILA — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) said it is prepared to establish makeshift polling sites in Mindanao for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) parliamentary elections and the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (BSKE) polls if schools are deemed unusable following the recent earthquake.

Comelec chairperson George Garcia said on Wednesday that the poll body is currently assessing the condition of schools that will serve as voting centers across affected areas in Mindanao.

He said contingency polling sites may be set up near damaged schools or within their open spaces to ensure voters are not inconvenienced.

“Maaaring dagdag na gastos ito, pero sa aming palagay sapat naman yung budget sa Comelec sa Bangsamoro at Barangay at SK elections,” Garcia said.

“Kasi pag nilipat natin sila, No.1 kailangan natin silang i-notify, No. 2 paano ang iba naglalakad lang papunta sa paaralan, pag lumipat kami ng ibang lugar, baka kasi sasakay sila at hindi na lang sila boboto, ayaw nating mangyari yung ganun,” he added.

Garcia said no Comelec personnel were injured and no election offices in Mindanao sustained damage.

He also assured that the BARMM elections scheduled on September 14 will proceed as planned, noting that the Comelec en banc has already approved the candidates for the region’s first parliamentary polls.

The poll body is set to begin printing around 2.3 million ballots for the BARMM elections by late June, he added.

Meanwhile, the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) reported that the death toll from the magnitude 7.8 earthquake that struck offshore Sarangani has risen to 53.

“Ang bilang naman po sa aming naitala dito na ibinato po sa aming Emergency Operation Center ay meron nang 53 cadavers na na-retrieve,” said BFP spokesperson Fire Superintendent Anthony Arroyo.

He said some of the recovered remains have yet to be identified.

The Department of Education (DepEd) said initial assessments show around 6,224 schools across Zamboanga Peninsula, Northern Mindanao, Davao Region, SOCCSKSARGEN, and Caraga were affected by the quake.

DepEd added that more than 3.2 million students and about 128,000 teachers and school personnel were impacted by the disaster.