Acting Commission on Elections provincial supervisor Lionel Marco Castillano has recommended to the Comelec regional office the immediate transfer of Bogo City election officer Jose Menguez before the synchronized Sangguniang Kabataan and barangay elections on October 29.
Castillano’s recommendation came after Menguez requested for his and his staff’s immediate transfer from Bogo City to another area.
Menguez’s request was due to the July 11 incident in which their office was ransacked and their power supply was cut off. The Bogo City Comelec office is located at the back of the City Hall.
“I will recommend that he will be transferred to other municipality preferably outside the fourth district,” Castillano said yesterday.
Once his request for transfer will be turned down, Menguez said he will request for security escorts from the Philippine National Police. But Castillano said as of this time, there is no need for Menguez to have security escorts since he is not receiving death threats.
Power to Menguez’s office was already restored and the doorknob has been changed. Castillano, however, instructed them to also install padlocks to secure their important documents.
In his letter to Castillano, Menguez narrated that on July 11, his casual employee, who was the first to report for work, noticed that their office was in disarray.
A jalousie blade of the back window has been removed and their V-SAT antenna was missing. The blackboard was brought down and the office papers and files were scattered.
Upon learning this, Menguez instructed his staff to close the office and not to touch anything.
Bogo City Mayor Celestino “Junie” Martinez Jr., however, said he has not heard of the incident.— Garry B. Lao/LPM