President Duterte has declared May 13, Monday, a special nonworking holiday for the national and local midterm elections.

The holiday declaration was made by the President through Proclamation 719 signed on Thursday, May 9.

“Whereas, there is a need to declare Monday, 13 May 2019, a special nonworking holiday to enable the people to properly exercise their right to vote,” read the proclamation, a copy of which was released to Palace reporters.

It is not yet clear whether the President will also be declaring May 14, Tuesday, as a holiday following the proposal of the Department of Energy (DOE) to extend the holiday until May 14 to ensure that there would be no power interruption during the tallying of votes.

Nonetheless, the DOE has said during a recent Cabinet meeting that there will be a sufficient supply of power in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

The government has also since been making preparations for the upcoming elections.

Malacañang said the Department of the Interior and Local Government, along with the Department of National Defense, already gave assurances that the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines are ready to secure the 2019 elections.

Security forces are already deployed, especially in the election hot spots to prevent occurrence of any violence.

For its part, the Department of Education informed the Cabinet that the teachers who will serve in the election day will also receive honoraria and travel allowance.

Meanwhile, the Department of Foreign Affairs also mentioned that its department is expecting a higher voter turnout for Overseas Absentee Voting.