Friday, December 15, 2006 Little noise in towns; politicos unsure on May polls
PREPARATIONS for the Asean summit and its postponement have pushed aside election hype in most towns. Even the political tension common to some areas months before the election can hardly be felt.
“Generally mingaw pa gyud up to now. They tend to be lukewarm,” Cebu Provincial Election Supervisor Edwin Cadungog said, when asked about his assessment of politics in the municipalities and component cities.
Normally, debates and even mudslinging among political opponents can already be heard and felt at this time of the year, with only five months left before the May elections.
Voters have until Dec. 31 only to register, and by Jan. 15, the filing of certificates of candidacy will start.
Based on the feedback that Cadungog is getting from field officers, only one of Cebu’s 47 municipalities is having political movement so far.
Some people from that town have also kept asking who would be assigned to man the election office there.
The Comelec has already started to reshuffle election officers as mandated by election laws.
But it is not only the preparations for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit in Cebu that have overshadowed poll preparations.
Cadungog said there are still lingering doubts among local elected officials on whether the elections will push through, considering the talks and moves to amend the Constitution.
In fact, many local government officials still ask him if the election will be held this May, telling him that they heard from sources that it will not push through.
For several months now, the debate shifted from people’s initiative to constituent assembly, and now the constitutional convention.
Among the highlights of previous campaigns for Charter change is the promise that no elections will be held in May 2006, an assurance that former governor Pablo Garcia had called “the greatest political swindle of all time.”
Cadungog, a lawyer, said the local elections in May will be postponed only if the Constitution is amended.
And even if Congress will succeed in amending it, the amendments will still be subject to the approval of the people through a plebiscite before they are considered valid.
When asked whether time constraints will prevent the amendment of the Constitution before the elections in May, Cadu-ngog replied: “I will leave it to you to analyze.”
The Comelec, though, is already preparing for the polls.
Election officers gathered last Nov. 29 and 30 to discuss concerns about the elections.
The Comelec en banc also issued the final schedule for the different activities and prohibitions in relation to the May elections. (JPM )
