Comelec to review electoral board members list

CEBU, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) 7 will review the list of members of electoral boards in order to confirm whether or not there are disqualified individuals included.

Director Veronico Petalcorin gave the assurance after Cebu City Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella raised to Comelec about relatives of some barangay election candidates or City Hall employees are included as members of the electoral board in the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections on Monday.

“In this regard, rest assured that we will re-examine the list of members of the electoral boards to ensure that it is in accordance with the rules and regulations set forth in Resolution No. 10194 and likewise to uphold clean, honest and orderly conduct of the upcoming May 14, 2018 Barangay and SK Elections,” Petalcorin’s letter stated.

The letter further stated that Comelec is fully aware of the rules in appointing members of the electoral boards.

To recall, Labella cited that under Section 5 of Republic Act 10756 or Election Reform Act, public school teachers are the preferable individuals who will serve as members of the electoral board.

Further, in cases that there is a shortage of public school teachers, the qualified substitutes are private school teachers, national government employees, members of the commission-accredited citizen’s arms or other civil society organizations and Non-Government Organizations (NGOs), among other qualified citizens.

“We are aware of the pertinent resolutions pertaining to the proper constitution and appointment of the electoral boards,” Petalcorin said.

Petalcorin urged the barangay captains who have discovered that there are disqualified members in the electoral board to come to his office to hasten the verification process knowing that the election is just two days away.

“Panawagan sa mga candidates, they can examine the list of members of electoral board to find out if there are candidates who are disqualified or are partisan to avoid any doubt that the Comelec is favoring one over the other,” Petalcorin added.

The FREEMAN tried to get Labella’s side on the recent development but no to avail as of press time.

Labella sent a letter to Comelec-7 on May 9 asking it to revisit the list of members of the electoral board for there are disqualified individuals listed.

Meanwhile, the Department of Education in Central Visayas (DepEd-7) and its 19 division offices are all set to reactivate their respective election task force that will be monitoring electoral processes facilitated by teachers in schools used as polling centers.

DepEd-7 assistant regional director Salustiano Jimenez said this task, which is ordered from the head office, is important to safeguard the schools and teachers during the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections.

“(On worst case scenarios,) we have to protect our schools as it might get ransacked and we also have to protect our teachers from threats and harassment by candidates or their supporters,” he told The FREEMAN yesterday.

The division offices will be monitoring the conduct of the elections to ensure that all of them are safe and protected, he added.

Jimenez said the task force will be formed starting from the division offices, to the regional office and centralized at the head office.

“If there are issues or matters concerning teachers or the polling centers in schools, those will then be contacted to the command center set up by the task force at every office,” he said.

Complaints or any communication from the division offices will be coursed through the regional office, which will submit a consolidated report to the head office in Manila.

Ida Cabantan, coordinator of the special body dubbed Election Task Force Operation and Monitoring Center, said the 25-man team will serve as the link of any case handled by the division office to the concerned entity.

She said the members will be working on shifts and some will be manning the contact center while some will do random monitoring in schools used as polling centers.

The command center at DepEd-Region 7 office in Sitio Sudlon, Barangay Lahug, Cebu City is open from May 13 at 1 p.m. to May 15 at 12 noon. — MBG (FREEMAN)