THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) yesterday guaranteed that the first-ever Bangsamoro Parliamentary Elections (BPE) shall proceed “at all cost” on October 13 even as it pushed back the start of the printing of official ballots for the polls.
In an advisory posted late Wednesday night, the poll body announced the printing of the ballots, which was supposed to start yesterday, was “suspended until further notice.”
The Comelec said it suspended the ballot printing following the approval by the BARMM parliamentary of the bill distributing the seven parliamentary seats originally allocated for Sulu.
“(The suspension will) give the Commission on Elections the opportunity to study the approved bill,” it said.
Elections chairman George Garcia said pushing through with the ballot printing may prove costly later on once the approved bill is signed into law.
“There are certain things that needed to be factored in, so we postponed the ballot printing. We don’t want to proceed with something that could be wrong. In such a scenario, we will be blamed if we print something that is wrong,” said Garcia.
The official said that, aside from possible effects on the ballot faces, the Comelec may also need to reconfigure the automated election system (AES) as the bill may also entail the realignment and reallocation of poll paraphernalia and other election supplies.
“The moment it becomes a law, we have no choice but to implement the law. Therefore, we need to study what to do if there must be changes made according to the decision of the parliament,” said Garcia.
Garcia, nevertheless, assured the public that they have enough time to alter their preparations for the BPE, which is just 52 days away, since their timeline was purposely set with allowances in the event that it becomes necessary.
“We really wanted to set advance dates and schedules so that we would have some leeway in case something like this happens,” he said.
He also assured the Bangsamoro people that the elections will push through on October 13.
“To those thinking that the election will not proceed, it is far from the truth. The (Bangsamoro) elections will proceed. At all cost, we have to proceed with the elections on October 13,” he said.
In a related development, Garcia said the “None of the Above” (NOTA) option in the BARMM ballots caught the different stakeholders by surprise.
He said the participating Regional Parliament Political Parties (RPPPs) as well as incumbent members of the Bangsamoro parliament were “surprised by the problem we discussed. It was the first time they learned that none of the above had been included in the election code… it was only yesterday that they realized how serious the problem was.”
“You can see the surprise on their faces about that issue. They didn’t expect the implications,” he added.
Article VII, Chapter 1, Section 14 of the Bangsamoro Electoral Code states: “As far as practicable, the official ballots for the BPE shall include, aside from the name of all candidates, each candidate’s photo/logo and a ‘None of the Above’ option.”
The Comelec on Wednesday called for an emergency meeting with different stakeholders of the October 13 BPE to discuss the potential complications that could be brought about by the NOTA option, especially if the option gets a majority vote.
“The parliament said that they will do everything they can to provide a solution to the issue of none of the above before the end of September,” Garcia said.
He said they have also asked the other BPE stakeholders to provide their formal comments and recommendations on how to treat the NOTA votes.
Meanwhile, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) yesterday said some 1,300 of its personnel are due to undergo training by the Comelec to become election board members during the BARMM polls.
PCG spokesperson Capt. Noemie Cayabyab said they are ready to fulfill their role in the first-ever BARMM elections.
“Actually, we dedicated 1,300 for this. We are just waiting for the formal training that we will be receiving from the Comelec,” Cayabyab said during the “Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon” public briefing.
Cayabyab said the personnel are assigned in Luzon areas so as not to disrupt the operations of PCG units in BARMM in support of the elections.
As for the specifics of the training, Cayabyab said the training would probably focus on “electoral laws, the neutral conduct, crowd control and the voter protection.” – With Victor Reyes
She said the personnel who will be undergoing the training were vetted thoroughly, noting that the job they are due to perform in the elections is not ordinary.
She also said the PCG has come up with “operational plans” for the BARMM elections.
“This means that we have strategically planned the processes and actions that we are going to undertake before, during and after the BARMM elections,” she said.
Noting that there are many coastal areas in BARMM, Cayabyab said they will “ensure the conduct of security patrols for the BARMM elections,” saying that they are expecting the influx of sea-going passengers in relation to the elections.
“For the maritime safety, we will be ensuring that all vessels departing the ports are all seaworthy to sail,” she said.
