Pinoy VOTE

Candidates were asked by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to minimize litter as the nine-day campaign period for the Oct. 29 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan election starts today.

“The mountains of trash generated by the campaign are no laughing matter. We are appealing to candidates to lead by example and take steps to minimize the amount of garbage produced by their campaigns,” Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said yesterday.

Jimenez said candidates must not put up campaign posters outside the Comelec-designated common poster areas and should limit the flyers that they distribute.

“As a policy, a candidate is allowed only one poster in a common poster area,” he said.

The Comelec would be closely monitoring campaign of candidates to determine if they had violated election policies, Jimenez said.

Acting Comelec Chairman Resurreccion Borra said preparations for the Oct. 29 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections are already in place.

“We have been preparing seriously,” he said. 

“From printing, to allocation (of funds), designation of assignments and procurement of supplies, the timetable seems to indicate that we are on track.”

Borra said the Comelec is in close coordination with the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces in monitoring areas with “political tension.”

“We are monitoring closely the prevailing peace and order situation,” he said.

“We are also in touch with our election officers because they are the ones in the barangay.”

Borra said candidates are allowed to spend only P3 for each voter. 

“Under the law, barangay (and SK) elections are non-partisan and inexpensive,” he said. “I just hope that they’ll stick to that or be disqualified from the election.”

Peaceful polls

Interior and Local Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno ordered yesterday the PNP and DILG regional directors to help ensure peaceful and orderly barangay and SK elections.

“I want the barangay elections to be peaceful and you as regional directors can play a key role in helping attain this objective, in tandem with the Comelec and our law enforcers,” he said.

“At the same time, I have ordered the Legal Service to come out with guidelines so that you will be properly directed on what you can and cannot do during the election period, considering that the conduct of the barangay and SK polls, which is a non-partisan exercise, is not the same as the holding of the national and local elections.”

Based on data from the DILG’s National Barangay Operations Office, over 670,000 posts in 41,994 barangays nationwide will be contested during the elections.

Among these posts are punong barangay, SB members, SK chairmen and SK members.

Of the 671,904 barangay elective posts, 41,994 each shall be for punong barangay and SK chairmen, and 293,958 each for SB and SK members.

Contenders for punong barangay, SB kagawad, SK chairman and SK kagawad should file their certificates of candidacies at the Office of the Election Officer in their cities and municipalities.

All candidates are also required to undergo mandatory drug testing in accredited and authorized drug testing centers of the Department of Health. Under Comelec Resolution 8302, the drug certificates of candidates must be filed with the Office of the Election Officer not later than yesterday.

Teachers not yet trained

Less than two weeks away from the barangay and SK elections, public school teachers have yet to be trained for election duties.

The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) said the Comelec’s failure to conduct the training raised questions on the readiness of public school teachers to serve as members of the Board of Election Tellers in 250,000 precincts nationwide on Oct. 29.

“With a little more than week to go before the elections, Comelec has not yet conducted the necessary training for the nearly half-million teachers who shall serve as Board of Election Tellers in 250,000 precincts nationwide,” said ACT chairperson Antonio Tinio.

“As far as we know, these trainings have not yet been scheduled.”

Tinio called on the authorities to immediately address the matter.

“Comelec and the Department of Education must work closely to ensure that teachers are given the proper training in the limited time that’s left,” he said.

Education Undersecretary for Legal Affairs Franklin Sunga said the Comelec has not yet apprised them about the holding of the training.

“We have not yet been notified when they plan to do it,” he said in an interview.

However, Sunga said that DepEd has already alerted regional directors and division superintendents to be ready when the Comelec starts the process.

Last-minute registration

In Pangasinan, aspirants for the barangay and SK elections beat the last day of filing of certificates of candidacy in various election offices yesterday.

Lawyer Reddy Balarbar, Pangasinan provincial election supervisor, told The STAR that based on his monitoring in the 44 towns and four cities of the province, their election offices were overflowing with candidates rushing to file their COCs.

The filing of COCs started Sept. 29 but many candidates opted to file on the last day, he added.

In Urdaneta City, Ronald San Juan, the city administrator, said based on his consultation with their city election officer, there are surprisingly more candidates who have registered for the Oct. 29 barangay and SK elections.

It used to be a one-on-one fight in some barangays or one versus two opponents only, but now it’s the incumbent against three or even five contenders, he added.

San Juan said eight incumbent barangay chairmen in Urdaneta are now in their last term.

“Maybe they are eager because the past barangay polls were held a long time ago,” he said.

In Dagupan City, a mass signing of a peace covenant among all the candidates for the barangay and SK elections will be held at St. John’s Cathedral at 7:30 a.m. today.

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