Friday, October 05, 2007 Preparations go on at Comelec
EVEN with President Arroyo certifying as urgent the bill postponing the SK and barangay elections, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) will go on with its preparations until the bill becomes a law.
But Provincial Election Supervisor Lionel Marco Castillano admitted that Malacañang’s move has caused the public confusion.
He said they received several calls asking whether the elections will push through or not.
Castillano also admitted that they are now in a wait-and-see situation.
If there is a law postponing the elections, they just have to implement it.
But he lamented that the postponement should have been done earlier because now the Comelec has already spent for the preparations.
Some candidates have already filed their certificates of candidacy (COC) and have already spent in preparation for the Oct. 29 polls.
Appropriation
As of now, the printing of the voters list is on-going and the Comelec is only waiting for the accountable forms like ballots and election returns as well as ballot boxes.
“It would have been better if the postponement was done during the previous congress,” Castillano said.
As to the budget, Castillano said there is already an appropriation for it.
In fact, the Department of Budget and Management already started releasing the money and the Comelec has issued a memorandum that instead of the local government units spending for the transportation allowance of P300 per member and honoraria of P500 per member of the Barangay Election Tellers, these will be shouldered by the commission, “considering that the budget for the synchronized and barangay elections has been released to the commission by the Department of Budget and Management.”
Akbayan Cebu is also disappointed over the recent move of Malacañang on the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan polls.
“This is an indication of the lack of sincerity and commitment to good governance in the barangay level. This also gives aspirants as well as the Comelec itself so much stress and puts them in a wait-and-see situation once again considering their preparations,” Akbayan’s Ernie Edralin said.
They are also calling on the Senate “to put an end to this waiting and proceed with the elections consistent with democratic ideals.”
Arroyo has certified as urgent the bill resetting the Oct. 29 polls to Aug. 2008 together with the elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
The President’s certification has been sent to Senate President Manuel Villar Jr. and House Speaker Jose de Venecia at the same time urging the two houses to take up the bill before taking a recess on Oct. 12. (MBG)
