1st batch of Comelec staff moving out of ‘Palacio’ this month

COMELEC, Palacio del Gobernador, Intramuros. (Photo by Elmer B. Domingo – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0)

MANILA — The Commission on Elections (Comelec), particularly its personnel department, is expected to be out of the Palacio del Gobernador (PDG) building this month.

According to Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez, just like what he stated earlier, the department will be the first to move out of the building to be followed by the rest of the departments based on the decision of the Commission en banc.

“As before, personnel (department) is expected to move out of PDG and into Crystal Shipping Center building by the end of January,” he said.

“The rest of the departments will probably be discussed in the next en banc,” the poll body official added.

The Crystal Shipping Center building is where Jimenez’s office, the Education and Information Department (EID) is located together with other Comelec offices. It is situated near the PDG and is in front of the Manila Cathedral in Intramuros, Manila.

With this, he assured that they are taking precaution as far as the safety and integrity of their records are concerned.

It was reported that the Comelec has been notified to move out of PDG, which served as its main office in the past 10 years. It currently occupies the building’s 5th, 7th and 8th floors.

The poll body has been directed to vacate the offices due to structural integrity.

It transferred to its current location after its old building was gutted by fire in March 2007.