Filing of candidacy for brgy polls starts

CEBU, Philippines - The filing of the Certificates of Candidacy for the barangay election on October 28 will start today.

"As in previous barangay elections, we have already prepared the logbook, and our manpower to accommodate and receive the candidates to come from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.," Cebu City north district election officer Marchel Sarno said.

Unlike the May 13 elections, Sarno said no special preparations were done for the October 28 barangay elections.

"This is not the first time man nga mag-barangay elections ta. Ang ato ra man gyung role ana kay mag-receive sa duly signed forms from the 46 barangays in the north district," he explained.

Sarno also said they would send the second demand letter to different barangays reminding them of the October 18 deadline for the augmentation fund required by Commission on Elections.

"I will be attending the ABC assembly tomorrow (Friday) kay I am invited man. Adto nalang pud nato ihatag ang demand letter didto," Sarno said.

So far, Sarno said, four barangays - San Antonio, Tejero, San Roque and Tinago - have given their contribution to Comelec.

"Almost all barangays signified that they will pay their obligations.

But some are waiting for Supplemental Budget (SB) 2 hoping that the city will shoulder the due amount. Hopefully, mobayad sila before moabot ang deadline and even before ma approve and SB. Total, iuli man namo inig ka release na sa money because the deadline is not moving and processing takes time," Sarno.

ABC president and city councilor Michael Ralota earlier authored a resolution urging the city's 80 barangays to check available general funds that they could tap as source for the Comelec augmentation fund.

Reshuffling

Meanwhile, more election officers, whose relatives are running for the barangay election, are expected to be reshuffled, said Comelec regional director Temie Lambino.

Lambino said they have recently reassigned to another areas over 30 city and municipal election officers.

"We'll be expecting that there would be another movement of election officers because once these people would file a CoC, may mga kamag anak silang election officer na makikilala," he said.

A candidate could be disqualified if the reassignment is not done, he explained.

Lambino led yesterday's third Regional Joint Security Coordinating Council (RJSCC) meeting for the barangay elections with officials from Police Regional Office-7 and the Central Command.

He said they need to reshuffle election officers as well as election assistants related to candidates even if they are not members of the board of canvassers or board of election tellers.

"Kailangan iyon to avoid some innuendos from candidates na pwedeng maging biased ang isang election officer, so that's a better option kaysa hindi siya alisin," the Lambino said.

The same system is applied to police officers, said Regional Intelligence Division-7 head Pablo Labra II.

"Ibalhin sila (police officers) sa silingan na lugar aron dili gyud sila ma-involve sa pulitika sa ilang barangay," he said.

Yesterday's meeting, which was part of a series of meetings to be held in preparations for the election, tackled more on security plans.  Lambino assured that they can properly secure the election even with the limited number of police and military personnel.

"I don't see any problem actually because this will be just a rehash of our May 10, 2013 elections, so we're not worrying about our security," he said.

Police personnel will be deployed at Comelec offices starting today until the last day of the filing of CoC on Oct. 17 to maintain order among candidates, said Labra.

"Mando nato sa lower units specifically Cebu City na i-anticipate ang pag-abot niining opposing candidates, which might cause sa kagubot sa maong lugar," he said. — /LPM (FREEMAN)