Cebu Citizens-Press Council

For the third time, the Cebu Citizens-Press Council and the Police Regional Office 7 of the Philippine National Police will set up the Election Media Center to facilitate the flow of information between election news sources and journalists during the elections.

The Election Media Center (EMC) is a one-stop facility for information from agencies and groups that help ensure a peaceful, orderly and honest election in the region, particularly in Cebu.

It is located at the Police Community Relations Center building at the Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 compound at Camp Sergio Osmeña Sr., Osmeña Blvd., Cebu City.

Under the initiative of the Cebu Citizens-Press Council (CCPC), the EMC brings together the Commission on Elections (Comelec) 7, Philippine National Police (PNP)-PRO 7, and non-government organizations C-Cimpel (Cebu-Citizens’ Involvement and Maturation in People’s Empowerment and Liberation) and Dilaab Foundation to provide information to the media, including media advisories and press releases, for three days: May 8-10, 2016.

The EMC will also be the site for joint press conferences held by the convenors on these days, which cover election day itself, May 9, and the days immediately before and after election day.

PLDT Inc. will provide the center with a telephone landline and FTTH or fiber-to-the-home connectivity, which is much faster than DSL or Direct Subscriber Line connectivity. Smart Communications will provide backup wifi connectivity via LTE (4G).

The Visayan Electric Company will provide snacks. It will also provide a standby crew on election day to ensure uninterrupted power supply at the EMC.

SM Seaside City Cebu will provide the center with two TVs, with which journalists can monitor the developments outside the center. Skycable will provide the cable connection.

The EMC project began during the 2010 elections following consultations between the CCPC, Comelec 7, PNP-PRO 7 and C-Cimpel, the poll watchdog and political arm of the Archdiocese of Cebu. In 2013, church-based anti-corruption group Dilaab was added to the convenors.