COMELEC: No drug test for SK, Barangay bets

THERE will be no drug test required for candidates running in the coming back-to-manual Sangguniang Kabataan ang barangay elections on October 25, said Bohol Provincial Election Supervisor Atty. Eliseo Labaria.

The Comelec provincial boss issued the statement in an interview since no Comelec policy requiring candidates for drug test in the conduct of the elections and filing of the certificate of candidacy starting October 1, 2010.

The Comelec will conduct the said elections back to manual or no more use of poll count optic scan (PCOS) machines.

Atty. Labaria said that the Comelec has re-clustered the precinct composition of voters, reducing the number of voters to some 500 in 2 or 3 clustered precincts from a thousand lumping five precincts during the May 10, 2010 elections.

Consequently, canvassing of votes cast after the elections will be done in old-fashion way – manually, using the ballot boxes. (PIA)

Gun ban for barangay, SK polls starts on Sept 25

THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) will implement a total gun ban on September 25,
exactly a month before the October 25 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections.

Poll Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal said the gun ban for the October 25 elections will last
from September 25 to November 10.

Meanwhile, the Philippine National Police (PNP) will be as strict in implementing the gun ban
as they did months before the May 10 national elections.

PNP spokesman, Senior Superintendent Agrimero Cruz Jr. said that only members of the
PNP, AFP and law enforcement agencies will be allowed to carry firearms, and even then,
they should be in uniform and on duty.

Cruz reminded the PNP personnel not to take the firearm ban for granted, saying they may
face penalties if they are caught with their firearms while they are not in uniform or on duty.

Cruz added that the gun ban for the May 10 elections helped lessen the number of election-
related violent incidents. (PIA)

Fingerprint id prog picks 400 multiple registrants

DOUBLE or multiple registrants have surfaced at random and it is all because of the AFIS.

Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) the program being used by the government’s poll agency in registering voters automatically matches the print traces of a single individual and raises red flags when similar fingerprint match surfaces, explains Atty Ariel Selma of the city Commission on Elections office.

Because of the AFIS, more than 400 voters from Tagbilaran alone have popped red flags when their prints were cross-matched while re-registering elsewhere.

Atty. Selma however was quick to add that the red flags were noted when former Tagbilaran City voters resettled and registered anew in their new precincts of choice.

Most of these red flags were not deliberate as instead of just requesting for transfer of records, they re-registered so the computer program picks them out.

A case he cited was for a Tagbilaranon who was demanded Comelec records in support of his employment abroad.

Having been a registered voter in Tagbilaran and being in Manila at that time, the concerned instead filed for a new registration, not knowing that the computer can pick him out due to his available and valid registration in Tagbilaran, Selma narrated.

Also, some of the 400 cases in Tagbilaran were traced to women who failed to request for change of status after marriage and registered instead as new voters with a different family name.

Names and status, even faces easily change, but the fingerprints stick to truly identify the person, Selma said further elaborating on the peculiarity of the fingerprint as a true identifying mark of a person.

There are signs that people who may be involved in these red-flags are innocent, but in some cases, as this is criminal offense, it may not be too far-fetched when COMELEC would file appropriate suits, Selma added. (rac/PIABohol)

Pagpangrehistro alang sa Brgy elections, gisugdan

SUGOD nakarong adlawa ang pagpangrehistro sa mga botante aron maka-apil sila sa nagsingabot nga barangay elections.
Matud sa local nga Commission on Elections, ang pagpangrehistro molanat pa ngadto sa Agosto 13.
Hinuon, dili pa piho ang hugon-hugon nga I-oktaba una ang piliay sa barangay karong tuiga.
Kahinumduman nga una na nga gipadayag sa mga tinugyanan ang psibleng kalisud nga pinansyal nga ikabagat sa kagamhanan kon ipadayon ang pagpundo sa P22 bilyones alang sa nagsingabot nga politikanhong kalihukan.
Sa laing bahin, si Gob. Edgar Chatto mituo nga ipadayon ang piliay subay sa gikatakda nga petsa sa Oktubre 25.
Sa usa ka pagpakigpulong atubangan sa mga hepe ehekutibo sa nasudnong kagamhanan, matud ni Chatto nga wala pag pormal nga gipasakang amendment sa balaod aron ikasibog ang piliay sa laing higayon. (PIA-Bohol)

Comelec eyes proclamation of 22 winning party-list groups by July

THE remaining 22 winning party-list organizations will still have to wait for at least another two weeks before they can finally be proclaimed, a Commission on Elections (Comelec) official said Tuesday.

Comelec Commissioner Rene Sarmiento said they cannot proclaim the remaining party-list groups because they are still waiting for the results of the special polls in some areas where elections were earlier postponed.

He specifically cited areas in Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Tawi-Tawi, Abra, and Sulu, where special elections still need to be held. He said that about 12,000 to 20,000 votes are expected to be cast in these areas.

He noted, however, that by the time President-elect Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III delivers his State of the Nation Address, the party-list representatives would have all been completed.

Aquino will deliver his first SONA in late July.

The Comelec had earlier proclaimed 28 winning party-list organizations, six of whom were awarded two seats each. (PIA-Bohol)