Region 8 director moving to Region 7

TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines — Comelec-Region 8 (Eastern Visayas) Regional Director Jose Nick Mendros announced that he will soon be reassigned as director of Region 7 (Central Visayas), based on a January 9 memorandum he received from Comelec Chairman Andres Bautista.

Mendros told The Freeman he will be replaced in Region 8 by Dennis Ausan, regional director of Comelec-Region 6 (Western Visayas), who in turn will be replaced by Rafael Olaño, regional director of Comelec-7.

The revamp will be effective immediately but only during the election period, starting January 10 until June 18, and may include election officers and provincial supervisors, said Mendros.

“Not all election officers are affected, however, depending on whether they should be disqualified by reason of relationship to a candidate and those who have been serving for four years in the area as provided under Omnibus Election Code or Batas Pambansa Bilang 881,” he said.

Mendros said he will be reassigned to Central Visayas, which is bigger than Eastern Visayas, only in terms of number of voters but not in land area. 

As he is about to leave his office in Tacloban City for his new office in Cebu City, Mendros reiterated his appeal to his town-mates in Eastern Visayas to abide strictly by the election laws. He also called on the candidates and the voters to cooperate in this region in the implementation of the gun ban and checkpoints.

Mendros also made a similar appeal to the people of Central Visayas, where he will be reassigned, especially at this crucial time when the country will be electing its new president and vice president, who will chart the country’s future through the next six years.

In terms of security situation, the Philippine National Police had recorded about 80 areas in Central Visayas as election hotspots, while in Eastern Visayas, 44 towns were already placed under the election watch list of the Comelec, the police and the military, he said.

Mendros said the classification of these were based on the history of election-related violence in the past elections, the candidates involved, and the existence of private armed groups. “This is a tradition we cannot do without,” he said, adding that to be transferred is just part of the election officials’ job.

Mendros further disclosed the Comelec-8 will be in close coordination with the PNP and the Armed Forces of the Philippines for the activation security control centers, which were reactivated last January 8 during the Regional Joint Peace and Security Coordinating Council meeting at the Police Regional Office-8 headquarters in Palo, Leyte.

These centers operate from the regional down the municipal level, and chaired by the Comelec with the PNP and AFP as members. They will focus on the implementation of the gun ban and check points. So far, as of this writing, the Comelec-8 has not received any report on the violation of the gun ban, except for deadly weapons, he said.

Mendros said about 81,000 registered voters in Eastern Visayas may not be able to vote in the May 9 elections for failing to have their biometrics taken until the last day of registration on November 16 last year, under the “No-bio, no-vote” policy of the Comelec. The number however was comparatively fewer than Comelec projection, he added.  (FREEMAN)