Comelec warns barangay chiefs vs sabotaging elections

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is warning incumbent barangay officials against sabotaging the May 14 elections to prolong their stay in office, saying they would be required to leave their posts while special polls are being arranged in the event of a failure of elections.

“If there is failure of elections because of violence, there will be no hold-over or extended term for the incumbent or those sitting barangay officials,” Comelec commissioner Rowena Guanzon said in her Twitter account @commrguanzon.

In case of violence-triggered failure of elections, special polls would be held and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) would appoint barangay officials in acting capacity to replace the incumbents.

“So if you think by engaging in gunfights or lobbing grenades can stop the elections, you can’t stay on as holdover,” she added in Filipino.  

Meanwhile, the Comelec is tapping the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) for the first time to help secure and transport ballot boxes and other election-related paraphernalia.

PCG spokesman Capt. Armand Balilo said that in previous barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections, PCG assistance was limited to assisting local officials who requested for help.

“For the first time, the Comelec would be utilizing the PCG on a national level so Coast Guard commandant Rear Admiral Elson Hermogino issued a general directive for all PCG field offices to provide security, react if there is an incident at sea, transport election-related paraphernalia and conduct monitoring,” Balilo said.

But while the PCG is ready to offer its vessels for elections tasks, Balilo said the Comelec usually prefers the services of shipping companies for the purpose.

“Usually, the Comelec hired shipping companies to transport. But if needed, we could escort these materials on board the commercial ship during the delivery. The instruction of the commandant was for all districts to make themselves available in every aspect, including the vessels,” he maintained.

He also stressed that the PCG – despite its assigned role in the elections – would not be distracted from its main tasks like inspecting ships and conducting maritime patrols.

“All our districts were instructed to manage wisely their resources,” he added.

The Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) are the two lead agencies tasked to provide security in areas identified as election hotspots.

The military, meanwhile, has deployed more troops to Cagayan province to thwart efforts by communist rebels to extort from candidates and disrupt the elections.

The deployment came in the wake of an encounter in Brgy. Balanni, Sto. Niño, Cagayan between New People’s Army (NPA) guerrillas and soldiers belonging to the Army’s 17th Infantry Battalion led by Lt. Col. Camilo Saddam.

After being routed by the Army, the rebels were reported to be regrouping ahead of the May elections.

“That is what we are preventing, the launching of their plans against the people, local officials and our troops in connection with the upcoming election,” said Major Gen. Perfecto Rimando Jr., comanding general of the 5th Infantry Division based in Isabela.

“We need to push more troops to cover the areas of concern in Cagayan in collaboration with the police and local government officials,” he said.

 “We are seeking for the maximum support of the people and the local government officials as well as the candidates for the upcoming Barangay and SK elections to include in their programs the clearing of their barangays from rebel influence,” he said.

Call for vigilance

While its armed wing is being blamed for pre-election violence in some parts of the country, the National Democratic Front (NDF) is urging voters and candidates to fight all forms of election fraud and violence.

In a statement posted on the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) website, NPA-Mindoro Lucio de Guzman Command spokesperson Madaay Gasic said the people should thwart all “dirty maneuvers and  political chicanery” of corrupt candidates and officials.

“The legal progressive movement of all people advocating just peace should exhaust all efforts to assert for a clean and honest election. They should uncompromisingly fight various forms of election fraud and violence. Good governance and anti-corruption campaign should thwart all dirty maneuvers and political chicanery of the most reactionary and most corrupt enemies of the people vying for positions in the local level,” Gasic said.

“They should challenge political aspirants, even those contending for Sangguniang Kabataan posts, to uphold human rights and stand against tyranny,” Gasic said.

In a related development, the DILG is urging the Comelec to intensify the training of public school teachers in manual voting.

DILG spokesman Jonathan Malaya said teachers who would be serving as board of election inspectors (BEIs) should be oriented on manual counting as the coming barangay and SK polls would not be automated.

“It’s always a huge challenge for teachers serving as BEIs, especially with all the pressure from poll watchers, supporters of the barangay and SK candidates, and even from voters.” Malaya said in a statement.

“They should therefore know their duties like the back of their hand to ensure that there will be no glitches come election day,” he added.

Malaya made the suggestion after some teachers in Pangasinan requested special training in manual voting.

“The important thing is that they will be able to learn and go through the whole process so that they will be able to address and resolve any issue that may come up during the election proper,” he said.

Around 300,000 public school teachers are expected to serve as chairpersons and members of the electoral boards.

They will serve 41,933 barangays nationwide. The remaining 96 barangays exempted from the May 14 polls  are in the war-ravaged Marawi City.

Meanwhile, the PNP said the first day of the campaign period was generally peaceful with no significant election campaign related incident recorded.

“To maintain this favorable situation, the PNP continuously monitors the barangays categorized as hotspots or those where violence is likely to occur due to intense political rivalry with history of violence and presence of armed and threat groups,” PNP spokesman Chief Supt. John Bulalacao said in a statement.  –   With Artemio Dumlao, Jose Rodel Clapano, Evelyn Macairan, Emmanuel Tupas