THE PNP yesterday said 1,506 policemen have been relieved from their assignment in areas where they have relatives running in the national and local elections in May next year.
PNP spokesperson Brig. Gen. Jean Fajardo said the cops have disclosed that they have relatives up to the fourth degree in consanguinity who are seeking elective posts in the 2025 midterm elections in their areas of assignment.
Of the number, Fajardo said 1,308 were already issued with relief orders as of yesterday.
The remaining 278 will be given similar orders in the coming days, she said.
In a press briefing at Camp Crame, Fajardo said all the 1,506 policemen were re-assigned or will be re-assigned to other units until the end of the election period.
Fajardo said the policy is nothing new, pointing out this was adopted in previous elections to ensure the PNP will be non-partisan during electoral processes.
“The PNP has been implementing this policy long ago. Every time we have an electoral process, our policemen are being removed from their places of assignment where they have relatives running in elections,” said Fajardo.
“This is to preclude any notion that they are going to use (their authority as policemen) to influence the coming elections,” she said.
“Our policemen understand this. We remain non-partisan and impartial in the coming elections,” she added.
Fajardo said the Cordillera Administrative Region has the most number of policemen, or 180 policemen, who declared they have relatives running in the elections.
It is followed by Zamboanga Peninsula with 144, and Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao with 122.
Fajardo said policemen who did not declare they have relatives in areas where they are currently assigned may face administrative charges.
“If they did not declare or at worst, they used their authority as policemen (to influence the elections), definitely they will face administrative sanctions, to include dismissal from the service,” she said.
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) yesterday said it has received 104 petitions seeking to declare some aspirants for local positions in next year’s elections as nuisance candidates.
The Office of the Clerk of the Commission said it has also received 24 petitions seeking the cancellation of the certificates of candidacies (COCs), and one for disqualification.
The Comelec has earlier announced it will conduct a motu proprio investigation on the COCs filed by 117 senatorial hopefuls.
The poll body on Wednesday released the initial list of 66 names who will officially join the 2025 senatorial race.
A petitioned for disqualification has been filed against Kingdom of Jesus Christ pastor Apollo Quiboloy by the Workers and Peasants Party (WPP) for material misrepresentation in his certificate of nomination and acceptance (CONA).
The WPP has denied that it endorsed the senatorial candidacy of Quiboloy.
Senatorial aspirant Sonny Matula filed the disqualification case before the poll body on Wednesday, saying that Quiboloy’s COC should be cancelled.
The Comelec has declared two “wings” of the WPP — one under Matula, and the other under lawyer Mark Tolentino, who filed the COC and CONA on behalf of the detained religious leader.
Matula said Quiboloy should also be declared nuisance candidate since he “cannot campaign during his incarceration as he is facing several criminal charges in court.”
Comelec chairman George Garcia said the poll body will resolve the cases by the end of November as they are looking at printing the official ballots for the 2025 polls in December.
The last day of filing of petitions to declare an aspirant a nuisance candidate should have been last October 14 or five days after the last day of the filing of COCs last October 8 but was extended by two days. — With Raymond Africa
Comelec spokesperson John Rex Laudiangco, during the “Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon” media briefing, said the poll body conducted a motu proprio investigation on the 117 senatorial aspirants to be declared nuisance candidates for “questionable” motive in filing their COCs.
“Dahil nakita po ng Comelec Law Department na kuwestiyonable iyong kanilang motibo sa pagpa-file ng COC, na wala po silang bona fide intention na maaaring magdulot lang sa mockery ng elections iyong kanilang pagtakbo bilang senador (Because the Comelec Law Department saw their questionable motives in filing their COCs, that they do not have bona fide intentions that may lead to a mockery of the electoral process),” Laudiangco said.
He said there were also aspirants who have similar or sounds like the names of legitimate aspirants that may confuse the voters.
He said aspirants who seem not to know the functions or jobs of senators were also included in the petition to declare as nuisance candidates, as well as those who only wanted to have media exposure.
“Kaya nga po pagkaka-evaluate ng Comelec Law Department, ito po ay ginawa natin sa pamamagitan ng petition para din naman po mabigyan sila ng due process, maipagtanggol ang kanilang sarili at patunayan sa commission en banc na sila po ay lehitimong kandidato (That why after evaluation of the Comelec Law Department, we immediately filed the petition so they can be given due process, the chance to defend themselves and prove to the commission en banc that they are legitimate candidates),” Laudiangco said.
