Parañaque teachers can go to jail

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) warned yesterday that the over 200 Parañaque public school teachers who boycotted Monday’s barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections could be jailed if they are found guilty of violating the Omnibus Election Code.

Reports said the teachers refused to work as Board of Election Tellers (BETs) when a Comelec official reassigned them to other districts in order to avoid familiarity with the candidates and prevent poll fraud.

Comelec Commissioner Resurreccion Borra said they have ordered three lawyers from the Comelec law department to study the actions of the teachers and determine if they are liable for either administrative or criminal offenses.

Borra said the Comelec will conduct the investigation to find out if there is enough evidence to show that the teachers violated Section 164 of the Omnibus Election Code.

But despite the boycott, the Parañaque City election office proclaimed the winners in 16 out of the city’s 18 barangays.

Parañaque election officer Calixto Ramos said "legal issues" delayed the proclamation of the winners in Barangays Baclaran and San Antonio.

As a result of the teachers’ boycott, volunteers from the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) took over as BETs and canvassed the election returns.

An extension of the elections was allowed by the Comelec in precincts that opened late because of the teachers’ boycott. "The number of hours extended was equivalent of the number of hours of the delay. That’s why at some precincts elections were held until 10 p.m.," Ramos said.

He added that only 200 teachers boycotted the elections, contrary to the near 2,000 that the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) earlier reported.

The teachers walked out in protest after Ramos reshuffled their precinct assignments at the last minute. Those assigned at District 1 where transferred to District 2, and vice-versa.

Ramos defended his decision, saying he received reports that some teachers were allegedly paid by certain candidates. He also said the change in assignments was approved by Comelec commissioners sitting as a body.

He added that District School Superintendent Rolando Magno was late in submitting the list of teachers who were to serve as BETs, which in turn delayed the Comelec’s release of their assignments.

Ramos echoed Borra’s observation that the teachers could be subjected to disciplinary action for walking out of their duties.

ACT secretary-general Raymund Villanueva earlier said that the change in assignments resulted in the proliferation of flying voters.

Ramos said the Comelec arrested several flying voters in Parañaque but did not attribute this to the change in teachers’ assignments.

Borra said penalties for violation of the election code could be harsh "because the crime is worse than corruption, since corruption only involves money." – Nikko Dizon and Sandy Araneta