Barangay and SK elections: ‘Peaceful’ COC filing

CEBU, Philippines — The last day of filing of the Certificate of Candidacy (COC) for aspirants of the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) in Cebu province, was "generally peaceful."

Authorities, though, are not taking any chances, with the Visayas Command (Viscom) saying it has strengthened its security efforts for the whole Visayas region in relation to BSKE 2023.

With the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and the Philippine National Police (PNP), it already established 239 checkpoints and deployed over a thousand Armed Forces of the Philippines personnel, including members of the Citizens Armed Forces Geographical Unit.

The personnel exclude over a hundred more who are serving as liaison officers in the Joint Security Coordinating Center in coordinating with the Comelec, PNP, and the Philippine Coast Guard for a unified security and response efforts for the elections.

As to the end of the COC filing, which started on Aug. 28, 2023 and ended yesterday, Omar Sharif Mamalinta, Comelec-Cebu spokesperson, told The FREEMAN last night that it was orderly and the candidates followed Comelec protocols.

“We were glad that they were compliant and hopefully, in the coming days, this will continue,” said Mamalinta, who is also the Carcar City, Cebu election officer.

As of 11 a.m. in Cebu City yesterday, 1,444 aspirants for barangay captain and kagawad seats and 1,528 candidates for SK chairman and councilors already filed their COCs.

Several of them arrived at the Comelec north district and south district offices with their cheering supporters.

The filers included media personalities, like Herty Lopez, Jerry Auxillio, and Rhandi Gorion.

With the end of the COC filing schedule, all candidates are reminded that they are prohibited from campaigning on Sept. 3 to Oct. 18, as the campaign period is on Oct. 19 to 28 yet.

Election day is on Oct. 30 and the deadline for the filing of each of the candidate's Statement of Contributions and Expenditures (SOCE) is on Nov. 29.

Mamalinta said he was hopeful that all candidates will help Comelec in ensuring an "honest, orderly, peaceful, credible, and inclusive elections."

The Comelec earlier ordered a gun ban from Aug. 28 to Nov. 29, stating that "no person shall bear, carry or transport firearms or other deadly weapons in public places, including any building, street, park, private vehicle or public conveyance, even if licensed to possess or carry the same, unless authorized in writing by the Commission."

The Comelec, through the Committee on the Ban on Firearms and Security Concerns (CBFSC), is the "sole and exclusive authority to issue Certificates of Authority authorizing the bearing, carrying or transporting of firearms or other deadly weapons; or employment, availment or engagement of the services of security personnel or bodyguards; or transport or delivery of firearms and/or its parts, ammunition and/or its components, and, explosives and/or its components."

The gun ban prohibits anyone without CBFSC authority from carrying firearms and deadly weapons outside the house or place of business, and in all public places; hiring security personnel; and transporting firearms and explosives, as well as their spare parts and components.

Those found guilty of violating the gun ban stands to get jailed from one year to six years and suffer "permanent disqualification from public office and loss of right to vote." For foreigners, they would be deported after serving their sentence.

They better not flout the Comelec order, because Lieutenant General Benedict Arevalo, Viscom commander, said they were not taking any chances and deployed personnel early to ensure a safe and secure elections.

“This deployment is a testament of our strong commitment to ensure the safety and security of both the candidates and the voters throughout the election period. This is also to encourage our people to exercise their right and cast their votes freely, without intimidation and fear from those who are planning to cause terror," he said.

He said that along with the heightened security efforts for the elections, Viscom sustained its internal security operations (ISO), or the fight against internal threats like that posed by the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army (CPP-NPA).

Arevalo said that from Aug. 1 to 31, there were 10 government forces-initiated armed encounters that happened in the Visayas that resulted in the "neutralization" of 30 "NPA terrorists and seizure of 28 guns and nine anti-personnel mines.

He explained that of the 30, three died in the encounters while the 27 opted to lay down their arms and return to the government's fold.

“We have made our preparations well. Our intensified campaign against the CPP-NPA commenced as early as the start of this year. This is to prevent them from sowing terror and fear to our people to foster their extortion activity and influence the outcome of the election", Arevalo said.

For these elections, 42,027 barangay captain seats; 294,189 for kagawads; 42,027 for chairpersons; and 294,189 for SK councilors are being contested.

Per Comelec, the actual voting and canvassing will happen in 37,259 voting centers, excluding 10 participating malls that serve as pilot testing sites for the "Mall Voting Project".  — (FREEMAN)