BALER, Aurora, Philippines – Six election officers in this province are facing relief in the run-up to the May elections, a top official of the Commission on Elections said.
Lawyer Gilbert Almario, Comelec provincial election supervisor, told The STAR that some of the election officials who will be relieved are either connected to some of the candidates seeking local elective posts or have stayed long in their present assignments.
Almario identified the six as election officers Corazon Jabar of this capital town, Fernando Yngente (Casiguran), Michael Pineda (Dilasag), Robert Marquez (Ma. Aurora), Lamberto Bautista (San Luis) and Alma Broqueza (Dipaculao).
Almario said that Yngente, Pineda, Marquez and Bautista have been in their posts for at least four years. In the case of Jabar, she is a niece of a candidate for board member while Broqueza is a relative of an incumbent board member.
Almario, who replaced lawyer Fernando Cot-om after the latter was assigned in Nueva Ecija, said he had recommended the relief of the six to Commissioners Armando Velasco and Gregorio Larrazabal. He said he expects the new batch of election officers to assume the vacated posts shortly before the elections.
Untouched by the reshuffle are election officers Reynaldo Agabao of Dinalungan and Jericho Peralta of Dingalan.