Comelec set to file DQ cases vs BSKE bets

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections has issued show-cause orders to over 1,200 candidates in the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE) who allegedly engaged in premature campaigning.

Of the figure, 300 have responded to the Comelec directive for them to explain.

Speaking at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing yesterday, Comelec spokesman John Rex Laudiangco said the Comelec would file disqualification and criminal cases against those who failed to satisfactorily explain the election violation.

The Comelec committed to immediately resolve pending disqualification cases so violators could no longer run in the polls next month.

Comelec Chairman George Garcia said the poll body is planning to start filing cases next week.

Garcia said the Comelec is expecting to receive another 1,000 complaints against candidates who violated the law against premature campaigning.

Comelec lawyers are currently evaluating the complaints as well as the response of the candidates to the show cause order.

He said some respondents claimed the campaign materials were posted before they filed certificates of candidacy, which they said could not be considered an offense.

Garcia said the poll body is undertaking all efforts to prevent a possible failure of elections.

Comelec executive director Teopisto Elnas Jr. said training is ongoing for police officers who might serve as board of election inspectors in election areas of concern, where teachers may not be able to perform their duties for security reasons.

Elnas said the Comelec is identifying alternative polling precincts for schools that may be submerged in floodwater on election day.

At this time, Elnas said the Comelec is 99 percent ready for the BSKE.

Deployment

The Comelec is preparing to deploy ballots and other paraphernalia for the BSKE.

Laudiangco said the printing of ballots, election returns, certificates of canvass and statements of votes ended yesterday.

“There are 92 million ballots. Of which 450,000 have already been delivered by the National Printing Office to Comelec,” Laudiangco said, adding they have started packing the poll materials for deployment starting October.

The NPO has begun printing over 6,000 final testing ballots for the automated BSKE elections in three barangays.

The testing ballots will be used a day before the election to ensure that the election machines are working well on election day.

For the first time, the Comelec yesterday presented to the public the process of packing the ballots and other election materials prior to delivery.

Laudiangco said the Comelec would first deploy ballots in far-flung areas including Tawi-Tawi, Basilan and Batanes.

The last to be delivered are the ballots and other election paraphernalia for the National Capital Region and nearby regions.

Vote buying

Meanwhile, the poll body along with law enforcement agencies and the judiciary will closely watch the usage of digital money and mobile wallet in preventing vote buying.

Wilfred Jay Balisado, chief of the Comelec office in Zamboanga peninsula, said the use of mobile banking transactions in vote buying is considered an election offense.

Balisado said that while it would be difficult for them to determine online transactions for vote buying, they would tap the help of the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) in monitoring this illegal activity.

He admitted that the Comelec alone does not have the capacity to determine if online transactions are used for vote buying.

He said the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and AMLC would help the poll body monitor vote buying done through online or e-wallets.

“We can still detect if there is an unusual transfer of money through the different forms of mobile e-wallets from one person to a thousand persons as a pattern already,” Balisado said. –  Roel Pareño