Comelec urged: Replace biased police, Army officials in ARMM

Senate President Franklin Drilon urged the Commission on Elections (Comelec) yesterday to replace police and military officials in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) who have shown partiality toward certain candidates in the region’s Aug. 8 elections.

In a letter to Comelec chairman Benjamin Abalos, Drilon sought the immediate relief of Maj. Gen. Agustin Demaala, commanding general of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division; Col. Jerry Jalandoni, commanding officer of the Army’s 603rd Infantry Brigade; and Senior Superintendents Mediro Mambatao and Hamerodin Hamdag, police director of Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur, respectively.

Drilon said the four police and military officials should be replaced with "fresh and impartial officers who can ensure that the Aug. 8 elections will be credible, orderly, peaceful and honest."

The Liberal Party, which Drilon heads, has thrown its support behind the candidacies of Datu Ibrahim "Toto" Paglas for governor and his vice gubernatorial running mate, Hatta Dimaporo.

Drilon also urged Abalos to overhaul the Comelec office in the ARMM, saying that his recent order suspending top regional poll officials for alleged involvement in past irregularities was being ignored.

"This is to express my alarm over reports indicating that your recent order to suspend ARMM Comelec officials who were implicated in the controversial wiretapped phone conversations never took effect and was allegedly made for media’s consumption only," he said.

Drilon warned Abalos that unless the Comelec’s ARMM office purges its ranks of corrupt personnel, it will not be able to preside over credible elections.

"It is imperative that the Comelec immediately purge its ranks in the ARMM of officials and personnel tainted with charges of poll fraud and corruption," he said in his letter to Abalos.

"Your performance in the ARMM elections will serve as a litmus test on whether the Comelec can stand up to the required standards of strict impartiality and fairness required by our people," he added.

Drilon expressed disappointment over reports quoting ARMM Comelec director Renato Mabugay as allegedly saying that it was "business as usual for him and his operators."

Drilon said the reports triggered speculations that the Aug. 8 ARMM polls would be rigged in favor of moneyed candidates.

"Certainly, these reports do not sit well with the President’s promise to institute reforms in governance, specifically on the need to show the people that the Comelec can preside over elections with utmost impartiality and fairness," he said.