Monday, April 09, 2007 More local bets ignore poll body's peace pact
WILL adherence to local election laws be a measure for the Baguio electorate's choice this May?
"They had ample time within which to consider our invitation -- we gave notices as early as when they filed their respective certificates of candidacy to ensure and secure their adherence to election laws but only five of the 69 candidates showed up," said Baguio Election Officer Maribelle Uminga during the scheduled covenant signing for all candidates vying for local and national seats on April 3 at the Baguio City Hall annex multipurpose function room.
Only congressional candidate and Councilor Jose Molintas of the Genuine Opposition (GO), Baguio vice mayoralty candidate and Councilor Daniel Fariñas, Baguio City Council bets Perfecto Itliong Jr. and Jogin Tamayo of the Kilusan ng Malayang Pilipino (Kampi), and independent councilor hopeful Valentino Saculles attended the assembly.
Uminga said the assembly was designed to instill adherence to election laws ensuring fair, honest and peaceful elections where the candidates were supposed to sign a "promise" to follow Republic Act (RA) 9006 (Fair Elections Act) as bolstered by Commission on Elections (Comelec) Resolution 7769 to the letter.
She added: "We likewise wanted to brief them (candidates) on the role of Comelec Task Force Akas whose job is to ensure compliance of candidates with the utilization of designated posting areas and to apprehend those distributing unlawful campaign materials."
Task Force Akas, as deputized by the Comelec, is composed of the Baguio City Police Office, City Environment and Parks Management Office (Cepmo), Department of Public Works and Highways (DPHW) and barangay officials.
Uminga said "the installation of posters is probably the most controversial of all (hubbubs) during the campaign period."
"Contrary to the belief of local candidates, the designated poster areas are regulated. Hopefuls must give equal opportunity to all candidates regardless of financial means," she stressed.
It has been observed that the poster areas have been saturated by so-called "early birds," who installed campaign collaterals as early as midnight of March 29.
Some posters, banners and streamers have likewise been installed in non-designated areas, including electric posts, fences and public structures, trees, electric wires, shrines and along thoroughfares, which is prohibited under RA 9006.
Uminga added that "there should only be one poster per candidate in a posting area."
"In fact, the Comelec could even require candidates to reduce the size of their posters if only to accommodate others. This is also the main reason why the Comelec encourages political parties to install poster structures for their whole slate," she said.
The election official issued a stern warning, saying "we would appreciate that candidates furnish their complaints directly to the Comelec instead of tearing down posters themselves which act is an election offense."
Meantime, Uminga reminded the candidates to be wary of their expenditures, emphasizing that independent candidates may go as high as spending P5 per voter and P3 per voter for candidates endorsed by accredited political parties.
With 138,000 registered voters in Baguio, candidates endorsed by accredited political parties may spend as much as P414,000 each while independents are allowed to spend P690,000 each for the entire campaign period covering all kinds of campaign sorties, including purported "friendly donations in kind."
Uminga also asked "campaigners" to sign in behalf of the candidates they represented. (IL)
