The Commission on Elections on Monday said the cancellation of the 2022 elections due to the threat of the Omicron COVID-19 variant was "unlikely," without discounting the possibility of postponement at the local level in case of outbreaks.
A cancellation of the polls may only happen if the conditions of a free and fair elections no longer exist, Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said.
"Kunwari surge, that's not the case. It's that people have to be extra careful, but hindi nawawala yung possibility ng free and fair elections," he told reporters.
"So it's unlikely that we would not hold elections, certainly not on a national scale. What may be possible is, in one location lahat ng board of election inspectors mo tinamaan ng COVID, wala kang ma-replace, then posible kang mag-cancel ng elections pero doon lang," he added.
Should the elections in some areas of the country be postponed, it can push through within 30 days after the problem has been resolved, Jimenez said.
"Kunwari, nagkabaha so nagkaroon ka ng postponement ng elections, within 30 days after nawala yung baha, pwede ka nang magsagawa ng halalan," he added.
Since its discovery over the weekend in southern Africa, Omicron has forced some countries to shut borders to prevent fresh outbreaks ahead of Christmas.
So far, scientists have said that Omicron has more mutations than Delta. The WHO said the most common PCR test can detect the variant.
The 2022 national and local elections are set for May 9, 2022.
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