MANILA, April 28 -- The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is not seeing any reason to postpone the May 12 midterm elections in areas near Mt. Bulusan despite the volcano's eruption early Monday morning.

"Currently, we don't see any reason for the Comelec to postpone the conduct of elections," Comelec Chairperson George Garcia said in an interview.

However, Garcia said election officers in these areas - Irosin, Juban and Bulusan, all in Sorsogon province - have already been instructed to come up with contingency plans in case the volcano's activity escalates.

"The concerned election officers are given instructions to coordinate closely with the Department of Education, local government units, and Philippine Institute of Volcanology and ...