Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 28) — The election and gun ban period for the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE) in October officially began on Monday.
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) also declared that the six-day period for filing certificates of candidacy (COC) for the barangay and SK polls is open until Sept. 2.
Comelec Chairman George Garcia said the commission was surprised at the number of candidates who flocked to the filing venues on opening day.
“Hindi namin inanticipate na ganito kadami kaagad ang magfi-file ng candidacy sa unang araw. Kahit hindi namin expected naging maayos ang unang oras ng pag fifile ng candidacy,” Garcia said.
“Asahan natin na magiging napakainit ng labanan na ito sapagkat napakahaba ng termino ng mga dating barangay at SK officials. At nakailang postponement na tayo,” he added.
[Translation: We did not anticipate this many people filing for candidacy on the first day. Even if we did not expect this, the first hour of filing has been okay…We should expect a heated fight as the terms of the outgoing barangay and SK officials have been prolonged because of several postponements.]
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According to the revised calendar of activities released in March, Comelec said the election period will run from Aug. 28 to Nov. 14, with a gun ban also enforced.The poll body said the Philippine National Police (PNP) has also set up checkpoints in preparation for the election period.The PNP regional office in Eastern Visayas said it is deploying more than 11,000 police personnel to ensure safe, secure and honest polls this October.The Police Regional Office (PRO) 8 and Comelec started setting-up checkpoints in main entry and exit of every locality in the region.Security forces from the Philippine Army, Philippine Coast Guard, and Philippine Navy also man some of the installed checkpoints.
‘Areas of concern’
PRO8 Regional Director PBGen Vincent Calanoga said there are “areas of concern” in Eastern Visayas which are mostly places with a history of violence and untoward incidents in the previous election.
“Meron tayong mga (We have) listed areas of concern from the previous election, it’s still subject for review after the deadline on filing of certificate of candidacy,” Calanoga said.
“Kailangan natin ‘to para maging accurate ang ating assessment. Hindi pa natin masasabi ngayon until na meron na tayong review ng ating security assessment,” he added.
[Translation: We need this for the accuracy of our assessment. We can’t say now until we have a review on our security assessment.]
Meanwhile, Comelec Regional Director Jose Nick Mendros reminded law enforcement personnel manning check-points that they are only allowed to do “plain sight” checks unless there is valid ground to order that a vehicle be opened.
