Thursday, March 01, 2007 Not just Sonny and it’s a reminder: Comelec
ALL senatorial bets, not only John “Sonny” Os-meña, are given a memorandum regarding advertisements and campaign materials released or posted before the campaign period.
Cebu Provincial Election Supervisor Edwin Cadungog said this is normal during elections. He commented that the use of the word “raps” in a local daily is not proper and that the appropriate word is “reminds.”
“That’s being done every election and it is only a reminder to all national candidates. It just so happens that Sonny (Osmeña) is the only Cebuano national candidate. That’s why the memo was coursed through me,” he said.
“We observed that until today, Feb. 15, 2007, premature campaign materials of all sorts remain either posted at places which are not the designated poster area or advertisements/endorsements in radio and television continue to be played,” the memorandum read.
But Cadungog said the memorandum is sent to all national candidates with the same wordings and only the name of the addressee is changed.
This is to remind them to pull out all materials on television, radio or those posted in different places before the start of the campaign period, which runs from Feb. 13 to May 12.
If the materials aired or posted before they filed their candidacy are being used during the campaign period, the candidates violate the Fair Election Act for campaigning outside the campaign period.
Cadungog also said Osmeña has no materials posted in Cebu before the campaign period started.
The local poll office also did not notice TV or radio ads on Osmeña’s candidacy that were aired before the campaign period and are being played until now.
Meanwhile, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) 7 may recommend the reshuffling of “overstaying” election officers after the deadline of filing of candidacy on March 29.
“Ours is only recommendatory, it will be approved by the commissioner in charge,” said Acting Regional Election Attorney Lionel Marco Castillano yesterday.
Castillano said they have to wait for the deadline to determine who are really running for local elective posts.
He said that Republic Act (RA) 7166 or the Electoral Reforms Law provides for the reshuffling of election officers, especially those who are already four years in their current posts.
The law intends to erase doubts of personal bias of election officers with a political party or candidate, Castillano said.
Forum
The impartiality of the Comelec was partly discussed during a recent local news forum attended by Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña and Cebu City Councilor Gabriel Leyson.
Leyson, who is running for Talisay City mayor denied that he will file a petition for the transfer of Corazon Moran, who has been a Talisay election officer for several years now.
Sought for comment, Talisay City Mayor Socrates Fernandez, who is seeking reelection, said he also favors the reshuffling of overstaying elections officers to ensure a clean and honest electoral process.
The Talisay City Comelec has yet to finalize its voters list, as it is still purging questionable and double entries of registrants. A Comelec office staff said though that they have already finalized the 456 poll precincts in Talisay.
Although Comelec moved the deadline for the submission of the final list of voters and numbers of precincts to March 5, it is already inviting voters to visit their local offices so they know which precinct they will cast their vote.
Numbering
Cebu City North District Election Officer Marchel Sarno said voters in the south district might be surprised to find out later that their precinct numbers will already be in the thousands.
He said Comelec Manila has decided that the numbering of precincts in the two districts in Cebu City should be done in sequence and should not bear the same number.
Comelec learned a lesson from an expose of Maguindanao Rep. Didagen Dilangalen during a congressional inquiry of the 2004 presidential elections.
He had accused the board of election inspectors of cheating after noting that two precincts have the same precinct numbers but have different total number of votes in the election returns.
It took time for Comelec officials to realize that two precincts indeed bear the same precinct numbers but these are in two different barangays and different districts.
Dilangalen had alleged there was vote-padding in precinct 556-A of Barangay Lahug, since the election returns showed that President Arroyo only got 51 votes, but according to the statement of votes she got 146 votes.
Then Cebu City election officer Simaco Labata explained that Dilangalen compared the election returns of precinct 556-A from Lahug, where Arroyo got 51 votes, with the statement of votes from precinct 556-A of Barangay Inayawan, where she got 146 votes.
“Cebu City congressmen at that time were not able to answer Dilangalen’s allegations because they did not notice right away that there are two districts in Cebu City and the numbering in both districts started with precinct number 1,” Sarno said.
“To avoid confusion, we decided that the north district alone will start with number one and the south will follow after the last precinct number of the north,” he said.
As of yesterday, the last precinct number in the north is 1,138, so the north district’s first precinct will be number 1,139. (MBG/GC/GAC)
