CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – How should ties be settled in the coming barangay elections?
This issue cropped up during a Philippine Information Agency-held forum on the barangay polls this Oct. 28, amid the possibility of ties in the number of votes between candidates.
“A tossing of coin is acceptable, but usually, there’s a drawing of lots,” said Rafael Olano, director of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in Central Luzon. He noted that in the past, ties in barangay polls were settled via drawing of lots, such as in the case of two barangay chairman candidates in Barangay Saliway in Dagupan City in 2010.
In that barangay election, candidate Andrew Carvajal was proclaimed barangay chair winner after he picked a rolled piece of paper marked with the number 1 which was agreed to by his rival Canrado Muyalde as the winning number.
The draw was witnessed by the Barangay Board of Canvassers (BBOC), the body authorized to proclaim winners in barangay elections and supervised by the city’s election officer.
This, even as Department of Education (DepEd) Asst. Regional Director Dr. Pete Pascua said that his agency would be prepared to designate other public school teachers or even other qualified voters to take the place of those who could join the boycott call of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT).
Public school teachers usually compose the three-member board of election tellers (BET) assigned to polling places for the barangay elections. ACT said earlier it would boycott the barangay polls amid the failure of the Commission on Elections to grant their demand for a P4,000 honoraria for poll duties.
The Comelec stood pat on granting them only P2,000 honorarium each, plus P500 travelling allowance.
But Pascua downplayed the boycott threat, as he cited reports that public school teachers who have been designated to attend to the elections have already attended required briefings and seminars. “Besides, ACT is no longer that visible in Central Luzon, unlike the Teachers’ Dignity Coalition,” he added.
Olano noted, however, that his office expects local government units to contribute to a fund being raised by the Comelec as additional stipend for public school teachers assigned as BET’s for the coming polls.
