Cops who failed to register may face admin raps

CEBU, Philippines — Police personnel who failed to register with the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) are running the risk of facing administrative charges, Police Regional Office - 7 Director Debold Sinas said yesterday.

“I have given directives sa tanan… actually, kini nga directive, gikan sa taas nga gi- follow gyud namo na sya. Karon pud sa Comelec, gi-require mi nga magpa-register… eh, di, magpa-register mi (I have given the directive to everyone… actually, the directive came from Manila, which we are following. We are required to register so we’re registering),” Sinas said.

He clarified that the charges will be filed against those who cannot provide acceptable reason for their failure to register.

“There was guidance from Camp Crame nga those dili gyud makapag-file… nga walay reason… an admin case will be filed against them,” Sinas said.

He said even him lined up for registration, as getting registered with Comelec would enable police personnel to engage in national policies and exercise their right to vote.

“We always inform our people to exercise our rights to vote kay kung dili, sayang pud to among boto. Ikaduha, gi-hinay2x na namo na among mga tawo to follow mga national policies and guidelines (We always tell our people to exercise their right to vote because it’s such a waste not to. Secondly, we are encouraging our people slowly to follow national policies and guidelines),” Sinas said.

The 200,000 police personnel nationwide will make a huge difference, Sinas said.

He revealed that 80 percent of the personnel in Central Visayas have registered even before the deadline of registration last Monday, September 30.

Numbers from last year showed that 10,000 police personnel registered, including the non-uniform personnel in Central Visayas, but only 2,000 cops cast their ballots on election day.

Meanwhile, Provincial Police Director Roderick Mariano said all his men in CPPO have registered with COMELEC, based on the registration forms they were required to submit.

“Maki-involve tayo sa halalan. Hindi dapat na hindi tayo boboto so dapat na mag-register talaga tayo. Sa akin, wala namang problema (We should take part in the election. We should register so we can vote),” Mariano said. —  JMO (FREEMAN)