Election offices urged: Let others borrow ‘extra’ ballot boxes
COMMISSION on Elections (Comelec) Cebu has encouraged election offices in different towns to supply other offices which lacked ballot boxes.
Comelec Provincial Election Supervisor lawyer Lionel Castillano said they have not received additional yellow boxes from Manila.
Comelec Cebu could not provide towns such as towns in Dumanjug and Consolacion with additional yellow boxes for the May 14 Barangay and SK elections.
However, he encouraged other election offices such as in Mandaue, which has a surplus of ballot boxes, to let other towns borrow some of their ballot boxes.
In another development, Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña said he will only entertain requests of barangay officials to transfer to the Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan (BO-PK) after the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections.
“Just to remind them, after the elections, I’m still the mayor. But I’m giving them the chance,” the mayor said in Wednesday’s press briefing.
The mayor earlier said there will be a change in the city’s political landscape after the elections, as he expected more barangay officials to move to BO-PK.
The Barug Partido Demokratiko Pilipino and Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) countered the mayor’s assessment, with Councilor and Association of Barangay Council (ABC) President Philip Zafra saying no such movement will take place.
Meanwhile, the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee will investigate allegations of electoral fraud that occurred during the early hours of the 2016 national elections after next month’s Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections.
Sen. Vicente Sotto III told the media that they moved the hearing next month to reduce the workload of the Commision on Elections (Comelec).
Sotto also refuted Vice President Leni Robredo’s claim that all candidates will be affected by the electoral protest.
He said only six candidates whose name appeared in the early transmission of votes were affected by the alleged fraud.
Sotto said the Senate will subpoena the security logs of Smartmatic to identify the names of the candidates that were included in the early transmission. /with PIT Masscom Intern Marthy Lubiano
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