THREE persons were arrested last Monday night in Sta. Cruz, Laguna after posing as Commission on Elections (Comelec) personnel to inspect the Automated Counting Machines (ACM) deployed at the Silangan Elementary School.
A report from the Sta. Cruz Police said Noli Placido Giliberte, Joel Placido Giliberte, and Jose Nazario Cordoba Cayado were arrested for alleged usurpation of authority and falsification of public documents.
“Upon verification of acting Comelec Election Officer Patrick H. Arbilo of the identity of the suspects to the Comelec of Laguna, he found out that the suspects are not working under the Comelec and are not legitimate to inspect the polling centers in the Laguna area,” the Sta Cruz Police said.
The report noted that the three arrived at the Silangan Elementary School aboard a vehicle bearing Comelec car stickers and decals.
They presented identification cards and a memorandum supposedly from the “Task Force Kontra Bigay” that was purportedly signed by Comelec Commissioner Aimee Ferolino.
In an interview yesterday, Comelec chairman George Garcia said everything about the three individuals is fake and bogus.
“They claimed to have been sent by the Task Force Kontra Bigay. There is no more ‘Task Force.’ It’s a ‘committee’ now. And it’s not the signature of Commissioner Ferolino. What they presented is a fake document,” said the poll chief.
“This only means that they are impostors, and they aren’t real employees of the Comelec,” added Garcia.
He said the Comelec intends to dig deeper into the motives of the three suspects, which would include looking at their possible links to the previous modus operandi of individuals making claims of being able to manipulate poll results.
“This is disturbing, although we are thankful for their immediate arrests,” he said.
“We will go deeper on this. We won’t let them easily get away, especially since we have issues with individuals claiming they can manipulate election results in exchange for payments,” added Garcia.
