As special election period starts

TANZA, Cavite – With the start of the special election period in the 7th district of Cavite, candidates started campaigning here, such as Cavite 7th District Board Member Crispin Diego “Pinggoy” Remulla (National Unity Party) and former Trece Martires City Mayor Melencio De Sagun Jr. in Tanza and Trece Martires City, respectively, Thursday, January 26, 2023.

Aside from Remulla and Sagun, two independent candidates, Jose Angelito Domingo Aguinaldo and Michael Angelo Santos, are also vying for the 7th district congressional seat.

Pinggoy Remulla kicked off his campaign in a holy mass accompanied by his family members held at St. Agustin Church in Poblacion, Tanza, early in the morning together with local leaders Mayor Yuri Pacumio, Vice Mayor Simon “SM” Matro, and other local leaders.

Commission on Elections (Comelec) checkpoints, together with Cavite PNP (Philippine National Police), have started in strategic locations in Tanza, Indang, Amadeo, and Trece Martires City as part of making an orderly campaign period until the special election.

“The checkpoints of our Comelec, local police, and Cavite Coast Guards have started in the strategic areas of (Cavite) 7th District for [the] special election. We need your utmost cooperation and a little inconvenience when passing through the checkpoints we have laid out,” said Atty. Mitzele Morales-Castro, Comelec Cavite provincial election supervisor.

The campaign will run until February 23, 2023, or two days before the special polls on February 25, 2023, scheduled to choose the next Cavite 7th District representative left vacant by Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla, after President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. appointed him the secretary of Department of Justice (DOJ) in June 2022.

Earlier, the Provincial Comelec Office led a kick-off ceremony by Atty. Mitzele Morales-Castro, together with the election officers of Tanza, Amadeo, Indang, and Trece Martires City and Provincial Police Director Police Col. Christopher Olazo and local police chiefs of Tanza, Amadeo, Indang, and Trece Martires City that started in Bahay Sanayan Building, Capitol Compound, Barangay San Agustin, Trece Martires City.

The said officers of the Comelec and Cavite Police went around Amadeo, Indang, Tanza, and Trece Martires to monitor the checkpoints in such areas for the implementation of prohibitions during the election period in the said district.

Among those to be implemented that are strictly prohibited during the election are the carrying of firearms or deadly weapons or “gun ban,”; illegal release of prisoners before and after elections; alteration of the territory of a precinct; use of security personnel or bodyguards by candidates; threatening any election officials, transfer of officers and employees in the civil service including public school teachers; suspension of any elective provincial, city, municipal or barangay officers, raising of funds thru dancers, lotteries, cockfights et al.; wagering upon the result of election and vote buying are strictly prohibited.

It is also strictly prohibited the removal, destroy, deface, or election propaganda, any donation or gifts in cash or in kind, or construction or maintenance of barangay-funded roads and bridges.

The candidates have 30 days to campaign in the elections to be held on special polls, which will be automated on Feb. 25, 2023.

According to Atty. Mitzele Castro, all registered voters from the municipalities of Amadeo, Indang, Tanza, and Trece Martires City, will be participating in this electoral exercise, which is being held because of the existence of a vacancy of the post of representative for the said legislative district as certified by the House of Representatives in its House Resolution No. 100 dated July 27, 2022.

During the joint security command conference held at the Tanza Oasis Hotel and Resort in Tanza on Jan. 17, in a meeting convened by Commission on Elections (Comelec) Commissioner Marlon Casquejo, commissioner in charge for the special elections, counting and canvassing of votes will be via the Automated Elections System, using the vote counting machine (VCM) and the Consolidation and Canvassing System (CCS).

Chiefs of police Major Dennis Villanueva of Tanza, Major Edward Cantano of Indang, Major. Gilbert Derla of Amadeo and Lt. Col. Jonathan Asnan of Trece Martires City, and Election Officer Joan Erni of Tanza, Enriqueta Danieles of Amadeo, Regina Gonzales of Indang, and Yolanda Ramos of Trece Martires City will work together to control checkpoints in their respective towns and cities.