Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 29) — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) said 29 teachers in Abra province backed out as members of the electoral board for the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) on Monday.
“Twenty-nine lang po pala naman ang electoral board members na hindi makakapagsilbi dito sa Abra,” Comelec Chairman George Garcia said in a media briefing in Abra on Sunday. “Mali ‘yung naiparating sa amin na 50, 58. May nakarating na mahigit 100.”
[Translation: Only twenty-nine electoral board members cannot serve here in Abra. What we were told earlier was wrong, that there were 50, 58. There were even reports of more than 100.]
He added that the teachers backed out due to family ties to BSKE candidates, and 93 personnel of the Philippine National Police (PNP) will be deployed to replace the 29 teachers.
According to the poll body, 3,000 PNP personnel nationwide have been trained as substitute poll workers.
On Friday, Garcia reported that 58 teachers said they would not serve as electoral board members while over 200 candidates pulled out of the race. Comelec officials flew to the province to verify these reports.
