Wednesday, May 02, 2007 Comelec confirms 246 extra ballots By Danilo V. Adorador III
FINDING the 246 extra ballot boxes deposited at the City Finance Office "too many," Cagayan de Oro City Commission on Elections (Comelec) Registrar Stalin Baguio has sought clarification from the city treasurer.
Baguio was acting on the complaints of the local slate of the Genuine Opposition (GO), which suspected the presence of excess ballots as part of the administration's plan to rig the May elections.
The Padayon Pilipino (Padayon)--Lakas-CMD coalition shrugged off the allegation merely as a "figment" of their opponents' imagination. But in seeking clarification from City Treasurer Lino Daral, Baguio acknowledged that the number of excess ballot boxes was "too many a number to make them as reserved ballot boxes."
"We have to be transparent about this. Please inform us about this and give us explanation regarding the excess in the number of ballot boxes," reads Baguio's letter dated April 30.
Daral's reply to that letter was not immediately known, in lieu of the holiday, Tuesday being Labor Day.
Lawyer Rufus Rodriguez, GO's congressional candidate in the second district, said ballot boxes "must correspond" to the city's 1,131 precincts.
Reserved ballot boxes, which are intended to replace damaged ones, "must only number at six to seven boxes," Rodriguez told reporters Tuesday.
"But if you have 246 reserved ballot boxes, that's highly dubious. Specially, so that these reserved boxes are similar in color and in shape to the original boxes," he added.
Councilor Edgar Cabanlas, an independent congressional candidate, also weighed in, saying the "excessive number of reserved ballot boxes" was conducive to "switching."
"The Comelec must be vigilant about this. We should not let anyone debase our electoral process. The winner in May must earn his victory through hard-work and honesty in our electoral process," Cabanlas said.
The media bureau of Councilor Jose Benjamin Benaldo quoted Baguio as saying they heard about the arrival of ballot boxes and that these are legitimate ballot boxes and election paraphernalia.
Earlier the regional office of the Commission on Elections (Comelec-10) allayed fears that the 200 extra ballot boxes set for the election race here in Cagayan de Oro City will be used to rig the elections.
It said there are still three towns in Misamis Oriental that do not have any serviceable ballot boxes as yet.
In an interview with Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro, Comelec-Northern Mindanao OIC assistant regional director Carlito Ravelo said election supplies and ballot boxes have started arriving in their office and that these may be used in the event they face a shortage of ballot boxes. (With a report from LJA)
