No election-related violence so far, says Abalos

There has been no recorded election-related incident of violence since the start of the campaign period on Feb.13 for senatorial and party-list elections, Commission on Elections chairman Benjamin Abalos said yesterday.

Abalos, who was in Zamboanga City for a conference with the police and the military, said that with a peaceful pre-election situation, he was wondering what made the Canadian Embassy issue an advisory warning its citizens against joining political rallies in the Philippines.

"It is relieving to know that in all areas that I have been to, like Regions 4,3, 2 and 1 except for Nueva Ecija and Abra, there is not one election violence that was reported to me. And yet there is this travel advisory,’’ Abalos told reporters.

The campaign period for the congressional and other local government posts begins on March 29.

The Canadian advisory was prompted by the alleged aborted plot to bomb a campaign rally of the Genuine Opposition in Iloilo City recently.

"Because of that (security warning) I have to face the members of the diplomatic corps and explain to them. (Justice) Secretary (Raul) Gonzalez was there saying it was a reason given by the opposition because only a few would attend its rally and it was embarrassing,’’ Abalos said.

"This kind of travel advisory is working against tourism in the Philippines, that will practically erase the Philippines in the map of tourism,’’ he said. "It will be bad for us. That is why I am very cautious.’’

The Comelec chief also stressed the poll body will only seek the assistance of the military "under extreme and urgent cases.’’

"The rule is the military will stay in the barracks unless summoned by us in serious arms threats,’’ Abalos said.

There are ongoing military operations in Sulu and some parts of Central Mindanao. In Sulu, government troops are tracking down remnants of the Abu Sayyaf and Indonesia-based Jemaah Islamiya terrorists.

The military also has a large deployment in Central Mindanao where it tries to keep a teetering ceasefire with Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels after several skirmishes in the past weeks.

"But we must not be misunderstood here. The Comelec cannot interfere with what is purely a military operation,’’ Abalos stressed.

He said the Comelec will not even use military vehicles in transporting ballot boxes and other election materials. "We will not use any of their vehicles either by land, air or sea unless extreme cases,’’ Abalos said.

In an agreement between the Comelec and the Department of Defense then headed by Secretary Avelino Cruz, any troop movement during the election period must be cleared with the top poll body.

Asked if it would be possible for the military to justify troop movement with claims of terrorist sighting, Abalos said, "it could be.’’

Chief Supt. Joel Goltiao, police director for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) said at least 29 barangays in the region were declared "areas of immediate concern’’ and 737 others as "areas of concern.’’ It was not immediately clear what the terms exactly meant. He said there are at least 14 "partisan armed groups’’ in ARMM. He did not elaborate.

The Comelec will produce and sell compact discs containing the official voters list by the end of this month.

The CDs will include the voters’ names in each barangay or municipality.

Abalos said that with the voters’ list on CD, it would be easier for voters to check if their names are on the official list.

"By the end of this month we will have a clean list of voters which everybody can secure by buying a CD from our main office in Manila,’’ Abalos said.

Abalos also said the Comelec has come up with a resolution discouraging any candidate from calling Comelec officials. And if there is an urgent need for a candidate to communicate with a Comelec commissioner, their conversation will be recorded.

"In case of urgent cases we can not prohibit people from calling us,’’ Abalos said.