Agusan del Norte, Butuan Comelec admits lack of manpower, resources

By Ben Serrano,
Correspondent

BUTUAN City — The Commission on Elections, here, admitted difficulty in prosecuting violators of election related offenses such as vote buying and electioneering  due to a severe lack of manpower.

Agusan del Norte Provincial Comelec officer Atty. Ernie Palanan and Butuan City Comelec officer Atty. Samuel Rollo during press conference here told reporters that complainants must issue affidavit, provide evidences before their Comelec offices so that they can forward it to their legal department at the central office in Manila for action.

The two Comelec officials said their offices can’t provide police security not witness protection because it is beyond Comelec’s capabilities.

Rollo said no single complaint was filed so far before his office so far.

The two Comelec officials admitted that it is due to lack of personnel and resources that hindered their respective offices to do official tasks.

Palanan for his part admitted that without setting example to punish violators of election offense may give wrong impressions that the Philippine poll body is weak because no one has ever been arrested and jailed for instance in the laws that violated vote buying.

“Any hauling or voters or hakot system, give money to supporters, voters to attend political rallies of any political groups or candidates are per se violations and is a form of vote buying. But to pursue the case is very difficult because the complainants must be the ones to pursue the case with their affidavits not the Comelec. We are here to provide assistance if needed but that alone is a problem already because of the lack of manpower,” Palanan said.

But former Biliran Rep. Glenn Chong, who is one of the convenor for poll watch body Transparent and Clean Elections for 2016, said what Palanan said is illegal because it is threatening the voters to come out and complain.

“Instead of protecting the rights of the voter as provided by the law because he or she is not supposed to reveal whom she or he voted because of the secrecy of the ballots that must be protected, the tendency of telling the BEIs of who were candidates he or she voted will now be revealed. When what is only important is that the voter only wanted to make sure what he voted are the ones counted,” Chong said.

Chong has requested the Comelec central office that there must be citizens’ initiative parallel counting of the voters receipts dropped at the receptacle to ensure guarantee of honest and transparent election not to cast any doubts as Comelec said which is absurd saying such request are guaranteed by the constitution and election laws the sovereign rights of the citizens to take part in honest and orderly elections.