3 Ilocos Norte bets face vote buying charges

 By Leilanie Adriano

LAOAG CITY – Police filed  three cases against Ilocos Norte candidates running for village posts for alleged vote buying before the Commission on Elections office here Monday.

    “We have received so many reports of vote buying and, so far, there are three complaints that we have filed to the Comelec,” Police Col. Julius Suriben, Ilocos Norte Police Provincial Office director, told journalists in an interview.
    He said two of the charges are from this city while the other is from Piddig town.
    “All reports and complaints on vote buying are properly acted upon if you help us gather and provide [pieces of] evidence,” he said, noting that they have received around 10 election-related violations to date, with the other still under investigation.
    To speed up the filing of cases, Suriben urged the public to direct their complaints related to the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections to the nearest police station instead of posting on social media.
    “We have deployed quick reaction teams to verify and evaluate all reports that we received, even if sometimes we feel that some of these are just diversion(ary) tactics or they are just trying to mislead the police,” he said.
    “This election is so far the most peaceful and we hope this continues until the election is over,” Suriben said.
    Since the start of the filing of certificate of candidacy last August 28, the Ilocos Norte police has deployed at least 25 quick reaction teams to respond in case of emergency while security personnel have been deployed in areas of election concern.
    Of the 559 villages in Ilocos Norte, the Comelec has recorded a total of 3,319 aspirants, 442,385 registered regular voters and 142,082 SK voters.
    However, some villages in Batac City and Vintar town, among others, do not have candidates running for the position of Sangguniang Kabataan chairman and council members.
    On Monday, at least two police officers have been assigned per polling center, manning at least 50 meters away to the polling precinct.     They were issued handheld radios in case the polling places have no communication signal.
    Meanwhile, Senator Ma. Imelda “Imee” Marcos, after casting her vote at the Cabeza Elementary School, reiterated her call to extend the terms of Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan officials for up to five to six years since the government continues to extend it nonetheless.
    “What we always do is to extend their terms so it would be better if we revisit the law and extend their term by five to six years,” she said.
    “For the SK, we should think of a system wherein there will only be one representative per barangay,” she added.
Marcos is the first national chairman of the Kabataang Barangay, which was created in 1975 and is aimed to give the youth an opportunity to express their views and representation. — PNA
 

 

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Cagayan Valley execs set drive against vote-buying

By Liezle Basa Inigo

CAMP Marcelo A. Adduru, Tuguegarao City, Cagayan – The Police Regional Office-2, with the Commission on Elections and other government agencies, hosted the Regional Joint Security Control Center meeting and launched the Regional Committee on Kontra Bigay (vote-buying) at the PRO-2 Conference Hall in this camp on Wednesday, Sept. 27. 
    Police Brig. Gen. Christopher C. Birung, PRO-2 director, through the Regional Intelligence Division, presented update on election areas of concern in Region 2 or Cagayan Valley. 
    Birung reported that 45 and 16 barangays fall under the orange and yellow categories, respectively.
Despite this, he said, the region was generally assessed to be peaceful.    
    Myrtle V. Marayah, Election Officer III of Naguilian, Isabela, discussed premature campaigning and reminded candidates to campaign only during the campaign period from October 19 to 28.
    Comelec Regional Election Officer Ederlino Tabilas noted that automated elections helped reduced cheating. "Allegations of cheating and fraud in the election were reduced in 2010, during the introduction of automated elections."

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Comelec, DOJ move against vote-buying in BSKE polls

By Benjamin Pulta 

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) signed an agreement on Monday to go after and prosecute persons involved in vote-buying in the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE).
    Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said prosecutors nationwide will be on duty to accept complaints on Oct. 30, election day.
    “The fiscals will be available for the cases that may be filed,” he told the media during the “Kontra Bigay” memorandum of agreement signing at the DOJ office in Manila. “We can handle the volume. Mahalaga dyan may testigo (What is important is there are witnesses).”
    He said the need for witnesses is crucial since most vote-buying may be conducted using electronic wallets, instead of actual cash changing hands.
    Remulla also sees no conflict with a recent DOJ directive to closely scrutinize all charge sheets filed before prosecutors to ensure that complaints with a reasonable probability of conviction will be filed by the courts.
    All charges may be considered “open-and-shut” cases if sworn statements from witnesses are complete and sufficient.
    Comelec chairperson George Erwin Garcia expressed confidence that measures such as warrantless arrest of persons involved in vote buying and red flags like the transport of large volumes of cash and giveaways are sufficient measures.
    So far, Comelec has already received 23 complaints related to vote-buying.
    The practice of “flying voters” or voters ferried to different voting areas are no longer prevalent due to the adoption of modern voter identification systems, Garcia added.
    The campaign period for the BSKE will be on Oct. 19 to 28.
    The morning after the filing of certificates on candidacy closed on Sept. 4, Comelec said there were 1,414,487 aspirants -- 96,962 for Punong Barangay (village captain); 731,682 for members of Sangguniang Barangay (village council); 92,774 aspirants for Sangguniang Kabataan (youth council) chair; and 493,069 for Sangguniang Kabataan council.  -- PNA

 

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Santiago folks hit ‘vote-buys’

By Villamor Visaya Jr.

SANTIAGO CITY–About 1,000 villagers on Wednesday (May 11) took to the streets to condemn the alleged vote-buying, non-inclusion of 4,255 ballots, and other irregularities during the conduct of the May 9 elections here.
    Carrying placards, the protesters allied with losing mayoral bet Joseph “Otep” Miranda and met with Santiago City acting election officer Wilma Binbinon and city police chief Col. Reynaldo Dela Cruz to thresh out the issues.
    Miranda’s counsel, Nelia Natividad, and his father, former mayor Jose “Pempe” Miranda, claimed that they have documented incidents of massive vote-buying, the non-inclusion of 4,255 rejected and misread ballots that would have allegedly brought Miranda into victory, and other other election offenses.
    Both Binbinon and Dela Cruz advised the protesters to file formal complaints with legal courts, the Commission on Elections, and the police, if necessary.
    Isabela Fourth District Rep. Sheena Tan-Dy, who won the mayoral race here, has yet to issue a statement on the matter.
    Tan-Dy obtained 43, 416 votes, defeating Miranda, who got 42,631 votes—barely 785 votes separating the two.

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