City should’ve inked contract with UNA

CEBU, Philippines - The Commission on Elections will have to dig deeper on the issue of the government vehicles allegedly used during the recent proclamation rally of the United Nationalist Alliance in Cebu City.

Comelec-7 Regional Director Temie Lambino said he did not want to make an opinion on the matter but commented that if indeed the city government did rent out the government-run buses, a private contract should have been entered with UNA.

Lambino said that this would indicate that the buses were rented and not used for free for the supporters of the party.

According to Section 89 of the Omnibus Election Code, “It shall be unlawful for any candidate, political party, organization, or any person to give or accept, free of charge, directly or indirectly, transportation, food or drinks or things of value during the five hours before and after a public meeting, on the day preceding the election, and on the day of the election; or to give or contribute, directly or indirectly, money or things of value for such purpose.”

The said provision of the law is also repeated in Section 31 of Comelec Resolution 9615.

In a phone interview, The FREEMAN sought for Comelec’s statement on the rental of Kaohsiung buses by the UNA party as shown in an official receipt which indicated that P10,000 was paid for the rent.

Lambino confirmed that he also got a copy of the receipt which he has forwarded to provincial supervisor Eddie Aba who is heading the investigation.

Aba earlier said that while the use of government vehicles are prohibited for unofficial matters as well as the provision of free transportation of vehicles after public gatherings as stated in the law, they still need to look into the matter since there are other circumstances to consider.

Aba has written the office of Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama to explain that concern on the use of the buses.

While waiting for the reply, Aba said that they are asking those who have personal knowledge on the allegations to submit evidence to his office. He said they are also hoping to get copies of videos and pictures from media entities that were able to record the use of the buses.

Once they have the necessary evidence, Aba said that they will be submitting these to their law department in Manila and the office of the Comelec chairman.

“It is incumbent upon the Comelec law department in Manila to conduct the necessary evaluation and to determine as to whether or not campaign rules and regulation were violated,” he said.

Meanwhile, Cebu City South District Rep. Tomas Osmeña said he is not desperate in complaining about the use of the city-owned buses and other vehicles during the UNA proclamation rally, as what Rama is saying.

Osmeña said he just wants Comelec to go after the illegal activities of his political opponent in the coming May 13 elections who allowed city-owned vehicles be used to ferry political supporters from the barangays to attend the rally.

Osmeña is challenging the reelection bid of Rama, who used to be his vice mayor in Cebu City for nine years from 2001 to 2010.

The mayor said the Kaohsiung and Yokohama buses that were used during the event last Tuesday were rented out by UNA supporters.

The mayor is already hesitant to answer questions from the media about the use of city-owned vehicles in last Tuesday’s UNA rally, saying “Ah, balik na ‘sab ta ana og pasabot.”

Under the law, those who will be found guilty for violating the elections laws shall be punished by imprisonment of not less than one year but not over six years, and cannot be subject to probation.  —/BRP (FREEMAN)