Cell phone ban for Central Luzon poll watchers urged

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga — The Central Luzon police director has asked the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to prohibit poll watchers from bringing their cellular phones during the counting of votes in 25,721 precincts throughout the region.

"I have asked the Comelec and the Department of Education, Culture and Sports (DECS) to ban cellphones among watchers assigned by candidates during the tallying of votes so as to minimize the possibility of anomalies," Chief Superintendent Enrique Galang said.

"It is possible that cell phones could be used for communicating strategies for cheating. Watchers could relay the progress of counting to a losing candidate who might be tempted to do something adverse to change the outcome in the precinct where he is losing," he said.

Galang instead urged the poll watchers to bring lighting devices to prevent cheating in case of power failure.

He cited cases in the past where precincts were suddenly hit by power failure during the counting of votes. "When lights were turned on, the counted ballots were already smeared with spilled ink," he said.

Central Luzon has a total of 3,921,358 voters in 2,948 barangays. Thousands of teachers are expected to man 25,721 precincts in 21,793 precinct clusters in the region.

Some 500 policemen and 4,000 personnel from national government agencies based in Central Luzon gathered at the Bren Z. Guiao Sports Complex here last Tuesday to tackle ways to guarantee honest, orderly and peaceful elections on May 14.

Galang said policemen and civil servants are prepared to take over election proceedings should teachers fail to report for poll duty in some areas.

He said policemen, and even Army soldiers, would be deployed outside polling precincts to provide immediate security assistance during the elections.

He said heads of national government agencies in Central Luzon promised to provide vehicles with gasoline to transport tabulated results from the precincts to the offices of municipal treasurers, and later to the Comelec central office in Manila.

Galang has asked barangay heads to urge leaders in their respective areas to prepare flashlights and other lighting devices in case of brownouts.

"We will not allow darkness to reign at any time during the elections," he added.

Galang said policemen and soldiers, who would respond to peace and order problems, would be asked to log their names at the precincts to avoid being accused later of interfering in the election process.

While the Comelec regional office here said that election materials, such as ballots and indelible ink, have yet to arrive, Comelec chairman Alfredo Benipayo said "everything is on track" and that all needed materials would be ready for the May 14 polls.

Benipayo, who was guest during the assembly, called on government employees to be "political activists" by being aware of political issues in their communities, but without being partisan.