Comelec orders 'status quo' in disputed village

By Gabriel L. Cardinoza

LINGAYEN, Pangasinan -- Voters in a village under boundary dispute will have to vote in this year's Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) in the precinct where they used to vote, an official of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) provincial office said here on Monday.
    "The rule is ... maintain status quo in all boundary disputes," said lawyer Marino Salas, Comelec provincial election supervisor, shortly after presiding over the meeting of the Provincial Joint Security Control Center (PJSCC) here.
    "These boundary disputes, until now, have not been resolved yet. So, the voters will have to vote where they voted in the last elections,"Salas added.
    Pangasinan has decades-old territorial disputes with the province of Nueva Vizcaya.
    Salas cited the mountain village of Malico in San Nicolas town, where, he said, voters should vote in the Pangasinan side, where they are registered.
    "And we have voting precincts there. We have just visited the area and the people there are very much ready to vote in the BSKE as Pangasinense," Salas said.
    The village has 238 registered voters during the 2022 National and Local Elections (NLE), according to the Comelec website.
    Comelec has its precincts at the Malico Elementary School, which is under the supervision of the Pangasinan second schools division (Pangasinan 2) of the Department of Education (DepEd).
    Malico, which is situated atop the Caraballo Mountains, is also being claimed by Santa Fe town in Nueva Vizcaya.
    According to the Santa Fe website, Malico was created in 1984 through Republic Act (RA) 8686. However, a check with the online site of the Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines indicated that RA 8686 is an act granting a franchise to a college in Bukidnon province to operate a radio station.
    The supposed law divided Barangay Malico into half — one belonging to Santa Fe, Nueva Vizcaya and another, belonging to San Nicolas, Pangasinan.
    But Pangasinan Gov. Ramon Guico 3rd had repeatedly stressed that the provincial government will continue to fight for Malico because it belongs to Pangasinan.    
    Malico (San Nicolas) barangay chief Jaime Segundo said that he is dejected that Malico residents will have to vote for two sets of barangay officials on Oct. 30, 2023.
    "We used to be in only one barangay. Now, there are two," said Segundo in a telephone interview with The Manila Times.
    He said that the other Malico will have its constituents vote at the Malico Daycare Center, where the Comelec of Nueva Vizcaya established a voting precinct for its voters. The village has 178 voters, based on the records for the 2022 national polls.
    The Day Care Center is located near Malico National High School, which is also under the supervision of DepEd Pangasinan 2.
    "We want only one Malico and I hope this will be resolved soon, while we are alive. Governor Guico and the governor of Nueva Vizcaya should talk now. Whatever they agree on will be fine with us. We have no problem here," said Segundo, who is not running for reelection.