Comelec taps cops to run voting centers in BARMM
COTABATO CITY—Amid the reluctance of several teachers to take on election duties on May 12, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) will rely on the services of Philippine National Police personnel to run voting centers throughout the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) facing security threats.
Ray Sumalipao, BARMM election director, said that as of Tuesday, at least 30 more public school teachers had backed out of election duty in various areas of the region.
“Some decided to back off because of petitions from some candidates due to their alleged relationship with other aspirants,” Sumalipao told reporters here.
In Cotabato City, local election officer Dindo Maglasang has confirmed that 10 teachers opted not to serve on Monday, not because of threats from politicians, but due to health reasons.
Maglasang said some have cited medical reasons for skipping poll duties while others claimed they have prior commitments. He appealed to teachers to inform the city election office early if they intend to skip serving on Monday.
Sumalipao noted that in Tubaran town, Lanao del Sur province, only 18 teachers are serving as members of electoral boards as others have pulled out from poll duty.
He said that about 20 public school teachers in Butig town, Lanao del Sur, have backed out due to valid reasons.
“I understand their predicament, their reasons are valid such as health, prior commitment and due to petitions from candidates about their affiliations with other candidates,” he added.
‘Show must go on’
But Sumalipao said they were unfazed by these recent setbacks in their preparations for Monday’s midterm elections, even as they expected the number of teachers skipping poll duties might increase as Election Day nears.
“The good thing is we have trained police officers, more than enough, to assume as special electoral board members, so the show must go on. In fact, these police officers have performed final testing and sealing of election paraphernalia,” he said.
Like in other areas, he said, the police are ready to assume the posts vacated by the teachers.
For Monday’s national and local elections, at least 3,700 police officers trained for electoral board duties have been deployed in BARMM provinces, most of them coming from police regional offices in Mindanao.
Apart from the reluctance of teachers to carry out poll duties, the BARMM is also rocked by security challenges, especially in Maguindanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Norte and Lanao del Sur provinces where many local contests have been assessed to be intense.
Commitment to peace
But Lt. Gen. Antonio Nafarrete, commander of the military’s Western Mindanao Command, assured that the combined presence of military and police forces and the commitment of political aspirants not to resort to violence augurs well for the peaceful conduct of elections in the region.
At least a battalion each of policemen and soldiers have been sent to BARMM in anticipation of security problems. Preparations are further strengthened with the cooperation of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which has a peace agreement with the government.
The Joint Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities (JCCCH) and the Ad-Hoc Joint Action Group (AHJAG) that consist of government and MILF representatives issued guidelines to prevent bloody encounters between soldiers, police officers and MILF forces throughout the Bangsamoro region.
Over the weekend, the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity gathered Army and MILF field commanders to sign a covenant to prevent misencounters between their forces on May 12.
Col. Joel Mamon, head of the government contingent to the JCCCH and AHJAG, said the covenant signing was important as Army and police teams securing Comelec and school teachers enter communities with strong MILF presence.
Mamon said understanding these guidelines is crucial “to prevent confrontational situations” between MILF forces and government troops.
Such cooperation agreement was inked on April 29 for the entire MILF, and with field commanders of Lanao del Sur on May 3.
“We also aspire for honest elections. We have fought and sacrificed enough for us not to break the guidelines,” said Jannati Mimbantas, MILF Northeastern Mindanao Front commander. —WITH REPORTS FROM FROILAN GALLARDO AND DREMA Q. BRAVO
