By Pops H. Gumana

General Santos City (29 April) -- "The military personnel under the 1002nd Infantry Brigade will cast their votes in the forthcoming national and local elections."

This is according to 1002nd Brigade Commander, Colonel Vicente M. Porto, who pointed out that the participation of soldiers in this political activity is an exercise of the right of suffrage of every citizen of the republic.

Accordingly, Porto revealed that soldiers under his command had applied for the local absentee voting (LAV) which is scheduled to start today, April 28-30 and from May 3-5, 2007.

He said, under COMELEC Resolution No. 7797 on local absentee voting, only the senatorial post will be voted and a choice from the party list groups.

"For military personnel who don't qualify for LAV, they will cast their votes in the May 14 national and local election wherein they can also vote for local candidates," he added.

Very recently, the units under the operational control of the Brigade conducted orientation and dry run on local absentee voting at their respective military camps to ensure that every soldier knows the procedures in voting and prevent spoiled ballots and waste of votes cast. No less than the Brigade Commander conducted the orientation and rehearsal.

Moreover, the brigade made clear that allowing its personnel to vote will not hamper its security task to support the lead agency, the Philippine National Police during the elections.