AN OFFICIAL of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) announced that some of the petitioners who want to join the new Bangsamoro region have withdrawn their signatures from the appeal.

First District Election Officer Stephen Roy Cañete revealed that only few appeared in his office to confirm that they have signed the petition.

Cañete disclosed they are conducting verification of signatures of the residents from the villages that have filed petition before the Comelec to join the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region (BAR).

Cañete said the results of the verification of signatures will be submitted to the Comelec central office for deliberation to determine whether they will be included in the conduct of the plebiscite on January 21, 2019 that would determine the composition of the BAR.

Five of this city’s 98 villages have filed petitioned to join the BAR and the plebiscite and these are Busay, Landang Gua, Tumalutab, Cawit and Arena Blanco.

Cawit filed a petition with the local election office two weeks ago while Arena Blanco on November 26.

Cañete said that only 40 of the 453 signatories from Cawit have visited and verified their signatures.

For Arena Blanco, he said that only 12 of the 560 signatories have verified their signatures before his office.

Busay, Landang Gua and Tumalutab have filed two weeks ahead of the other two villages but the petition was filed in Comelec central office.

The village chiefs of Busay, Landang Gua and Tumalutab have denied knowledge of the petition and claimed that their signatures were falsified. (Bong Garcia/SunStar Philippines)