Saturday, September 29, 2007 Ban on guns, appointments start today; Comelec expects 100 bets per barangay
TO AVOID the last-minute rush, the Cebu City poll offices urged candidates in the synchronized barangay and youth elections to register early and to abide by all Comelec regulations.
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) local offices will start accepting certificates of candidacy (COCs) at 8 a.m. today and will start implementing the gun ban.
Cebu City election officer for the north district Marchel Sarno also reminded local government officials about the ban on new appointments and new infrastructure projects, which also starts today.
The ban will be in effect for the entire duration of the election period, “Upon the start of the filing of the COC, the ban on the appointments, gun ban and infrastructure will also start. No new public works project should be allowed but they may proceed with earlier approved projects and ongoing projects,” Sarno told Sun.Star Cebu.
At the poll offices, Comelec personnel will accept COCs and record them in a logbook, a copy of which will be submitted to the central office.
Candidates have until Oct. 18 to file their COCs, but Sarno advised against the filing of their documents and drug test results at the last minute.
“They should file early to avoid the long lines like what happened during the registration of voters. The drug test results can be submitted anytime before Oct. 18 but its better if they just submit it together with the COCs to avoid inconvenience on their part and ours,” said Sarno.
The Cebu City poll office is expecting some 100 candidates from each barangay to file their COCs for the barangay elections alone. Hundreds more are expected to file for the Sangguniang Kabataan elections.
Sarno also warned against early campaigning by the candidates, which is ground for disqualification.
Candidates may seek votes only during the campaign period, which will be on Oct. 19 to 27 yet.
Poll offices will be open today from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. for the first day of the filing of the COCs but will be closed on Sunday.
The filing will resume on Monday and all weekdays up to Oct. 18. (LCR)
