Taguig recall signatures authenticated

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) yesterday authenticated signatures of 82 of 84 Taguig barangay officials who signed a Preparatory Recall Assembly (PRA) petition seeking to unseat Mayor Sigfrido Tinga.

Lawyer Esmeralda Amora Ladra, Comelec National Capital Region (NCR) assistant regional election director, said individual signatures were authenticated by a committee based on actual interviews, specimen comparison, voter’s registration records and certificates of candidacy.

Ladra said two barangay officials who also signed the original PRA petition failed to make it on the first day of the verification process.

Taguig has 18 barangays. Each barangay has nine officials – one chairman, seven kagawads and one Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) president, for a total of 162 officials.

Ladra said the verification does not mean that a recall election in Taguig would automatically push through.

She said that after completion of the task, a report will be submitted to the commission en banc through the chairman. It will be up to the commission en banc to schedule the recall elections if all legal requirements have been satisfied, she said. – Sandy Araneta, Nikko Dizon