Comelec may dismiss barangay poll protests in typhoon areas

MANILA, Philippines - Barangay election protest cases filed in Leyte and other areas ravaged by Super Typhoon Yolanda may be dismissed as most of the records of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) offices in these areas were destroyed.

The Comelec yesterday said it may be forced to affirm the proclamation of barangay officials who are facing electoral protest because losing candidates may not be able to produce sufficient evidence against the winning candidates.

“Without any evidence such as the ballots or election results, the proclaimed results of the election stay and there shall be presumption of validity in the election results,” Comelec Commissioner Luie Guia said.

In the recent barangay elections, the poll body used the manual system of voting, so there are no ballot images that can be used as alternative evidence in poll protests.

But Guia said those who filed poll protests may still attempt to pursue their cases if they are able to acquire other copies of the election returns (ERs).

“They can try to recover, if they still can, the ballots or better yet the other (carbon) copies of the ERs,” he added.

At this time, the Comelec is still in the process of doing an inventory of election documents and other records in all its field offices in typhoon-ravaged areas.

“We are still making an inventory so that we will know what documents we have lost and make proper adjustments,” Guia said.