Kasuhan ang magproklama’g “multiple termers” – Comelec

GIPASALIG sa Commission on Elections (Comelec) nga walay iproklama nga “multiple termers” bisan
pag sila ang midaug sa piliay sa barangay ug Sangguniang Kabataan (SK).

Tini samtang gimandu sa Comelec ngadto sa mga opisyal nga nagpadagan sa piniliay nga I-suspenso
una ang proklamasyon sa mga kandidatong nalista sa gitawag og overstaying kay nakahuman na sa
tulo ka termino subay sa balaod.

Kon may makalusot, matud sa Comelec, ang midaug nga nmagsilbi sa ika upat ka termino, isipon
kining walay epekto samtang mag-atubang sa kiha administratibo ang mga opisyal nga dili motuman
sa mandu sa Comelec.

Kini samtang gibutyag na ni Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo ang 4,433 ka barangay kapitan nga dili
na makahimo pagdagan kay molapas na sa tulo ka termino ang ilang pagpangalagad.

Segun sa balaod, dili mahimo sa usa ka barangay official sa paglingkod sa pwesto labaw sa tulo ka
nagsumnod nga termino sa samang posisyon. (PIA-Bohol)

“Contrasenyas” nullifies ballots

BALLOTS deliberately marked for purposes of countersigns (contrasenyas) can be considered null and
void.

On this, the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) in Bohol warns vote buyers and voters trooping to
the polls in Bohol’s 1109 barangays on Monday against wasting their votes on scrupulous practices
that challenge the integrity of elections.

In the country known for its fraudulent manual polls, candidates instruct their “paid” voters to strictly
follow markers so that the buyers can track specific votes read during canvassing from his materlist
of assigned countersigns.

Marked ballots, or as the Board of Election Tellers (BET) agree that it is deliberately put by the voter
for idetification purposes it make the ballot null and void.

Provincial Election supervisor Atty Eliseo Labaria, citing the General Instructions for BET and
Barangay Board of Canvassers in connection with the 2010 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan
elections also reiterated this.

The ruling is to prevent voters from putting up the “contrasenyas” or a practice of deliberately
marking ballots in manual elections to assure the candidates that the votes read belongs to a voter
he has bribed, explains a teacher who used to be a BET member in the past manual polls.

These marks however do not include commas, dots, lines or hyphens, accidental flourishes, strokes
or strains in a ballot, rule 22 of section 211 of the Omnibus Election Code.

While it may be considered that a typical writer’s mistakes can be manifest in the ballot, clearly
marking them would invalidate the whole ballot, not just the vote in favor of the name of the
candidate, a recap from the general instructions show.

The BET however should decide and agree if the marks are such to be considered strong enough to
be considered rejected.

The cardinal rule however is to consider the ballot valid and in favor of the voter, but the Comelec
has allowed the BET independence in the ballot appreciation, Comelec Genereal Instructions said.

According to the rules, names of candidates printed and pasted on a blank space of the ballot or
affixed there on a mechanical process would also be deemed null and void.

This would then render the whole ballot null and void. (PIABohol)

23 barangays sa Bohol gibutang sa Comelec watchlist

Tagbilaran City, Bohol – Mikabat sa 23 ka mga barangay sa Bohol ang gibutang sa Election
Watchlist sa Commission on Elections (Comelec) ug sa Philippine National Police (PNP)
tungod sa mga bayolenteng panghitabo sa mga nangaging piniliay.

Matud pa ni Comelec 7 Acting Director Veronico Petalcorin, ang pagbutang sa maong mga
barangay ubos sa watchlist nagpasabot nga dunay dugang ipakatap nga mga tropa aron
pagseguro sa kahapsay ug kalinaw atol sa umaabot nga eleksyon aron manalipod sa mga
katawhan ug sa mga botos niini.

Adunay 33,484 ka mga kandidato ang gitugotan sa Comelec, Bohol nga magpapili sa
umaabot nga barangay ug Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) eleksyon karong Oktubre 25.

Ang 23 ka mga barangay sa Bohol apil sa 209 ka mga barangay sa tibuok Central Visayas
nga gibutang sa Comelec watchlist diin 22 niini ka barangays ang sa Cebu, samtang 157 sa
Negros Oriental ug 7 sa Siquijor. (PIA)

Comelec suspends barangay, SK polls in 3 Isabela towns

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has postponed the Oct. 25 barangay and
Sangguniang Kabataan elections in three Isabela towns severely hit by super typhoon Juan.

The polls in the coastal municipalities of Divilacan, Palanan, and Maconacon will be
rescheduled to next month, Comelec Chairman Jose Melo said after his meeting with the
NDRRMC in Camp Aguinaldo.

Melo did not give a specific date, but said the elections in the three towns would likely be
done within 15 days after the nationwide polls on October 25. Under the law, the poll body is
given 30 days to hold special elections in cases of failure or suspension of polls.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (NDRRMC) gave the Comelec a
briefing Wednesday on the aftermath of typhoon Juan in Northern Luzon, particularly Ilocos
region, Cagayan Valley region, and Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR).

Based on the NDRRMC’s report, Isabela is the most badly hit province in the region. (PIA)

COMELEC allows Aquino to make select appointments

The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) has granted the request of President Benigno S. Aquino III to make new appointments for selected posts within the election period covering the October 25 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan polls.

Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said in a press briefing at Malacanang on Tuesday that the request was based on the fact that the barangay election is a non-partisan exercise. The President reportedly has yet to fill up over a thousand vacant posts.

In a resolution, the Comelec has announced that appointing an officer of any government office, including government-owned and-controlled corporations, whether permanent or casual, is illegal.

The prohibition covers the hiring of any new employee as well as transferring of posts, creating new positions, suspending any elected official and granting salary increases for the period Sept. 25 to Nov. 10.

The Comelec said it shall only grant exemptions unless “it is satisfied that the position to be filled is essential to the proper functioning of the office or agency concerned.”

Violation of the resolution shall be an election offense, which carries a penalty of one to six years’ imprisonment as well as removal of the right to vote and be voted to public office. (PCOO/PIA)