95% of village poll winners proclaimed — Comelec

MANILA, Philippines - After barely two days, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) was able to proclaim the winners in 95 percent of the barangays that conducted elections nationwide last Oct. 28.

“Our percentage of proclamation is already about 95 percent and that is about 38,000 of the 42,000 barangays nationwide,” said Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr.

The Comelec was not able to hold elections in almost 100 barangays across the country primarily because teachers refused to serve as election officers, citing security concerns.

The other reasons were the delayed delivery of election paraphernalia due to bad weather, shooting incidents, explosion, and other election-related violence.

The Comelec was also forced to postpone the polls and reset the elections to Nov. 25 in 98 barangays in war-torn Zamboanga City, and in 1,109 barangays damaged by the earthquake in Bohol.

Comelec records showed that proclamation of winning bets is already 100 percent complete in Ilocos, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Bicol, and Western Visayas.

Nearing completion are Caraga (99.9 percent), Davao (99.6 percent), Cagayan Valley (99.4 percent), Northern Mindanao (99.3 percent), Cordillera Administrative Region (99.2 percent), Socsksargen (98.9 percent), and Eastern Visayas (98.5 percent).

In Metro Manila, 95.7 percent of winners have already been proclaimed.

“We should be able to do some more proclamations today and tomorrow. There are still some parts where canvassing is still ongoing,” Brillantes noted.

The Comelec had refused to reveal the proclamation rates in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) because of conflicting reports from the field.

ARMM accounted for 66 of the 97 barangays where the polls were postponed.

The agency could not yet give an update on the conduct of elections in seven barangays in Calayan Island, Cagayan; one in Balo-I, Lanao del Norte; six in Akbar, Ungkaya Pukan, and Tabuan Lasa in Basilan; and 12 in Buldon, Liong, and Parang in Maguindanao yesterday.

Brillantes said the Comelec leaves it up to the discretion of the Board of Election Tellers (BETs) and Board of Canvassers if counting, canvassing and proclamation will continue even during All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day on Nov. 1 and 2, respectively.

“It’s up to them whether they want to finish it as soon as possible, even if it reaches Nov. 1, or just continue with it after the break,” he maintained.

The Comelec will conduct an inventory of local government units (LGUs) that have not yet given their share for the expenses in the last barangay polls.

Comelec Commissioner Grace Padaca said the LGUs should shoulder the P500 transportation allowance of teachers who served as BETs during the polls.

Aside from this, the teachers were supposed to receive another P2,000 honorarium.

There were reports, however, that some teachers have not yet been paid in full.

“We have already downloaded the P2,000 from the Comelec funds. We hoped to source the P500 from the LGUs because they are supposed to have election reserved funds,” she noted.

The Comelec received reports that a majority of the LGUs have released the transportation allowance directly to the teachers through the local treasurer’s office. – With Raymund Catindig, Charlie Lagasca, Danny Dangcalan