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‘Tearing’ of election forms in Cotabato legal – Danao

May 12, 2022 Alfred P. Dalizon 245 views

PHILIPPINE National Police Officer-in-Charge (PNP-OIC) Lieutenant General Vicente D. Danao Jr. on Thursday assured the public that policemen shown in a viral video “tearing” some election forms inside a Cotabato City school were doing it legally in accordance with rules from the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

“The Philippine National Police [PNP] again cautions the public to be circumspect in dealing with information from unverified sources. We wish to reiterate our advice to the public to be wary of disinformation circulating in social media, especially during this election period,” the PNP-OIC said amid the fracas created by the video.

According to the top cop, they “have fact-checked” video footage circulating on the Internet wherein police officers were shown tearing some election forms.

He said that reports from the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region (PRO-BARM) indicated that the video footage was taken at the Datu Ayunan Elementary School in MB Kalanganan, Cotabato City.

The video showed PNP personnel who served as members of the Special Electoral Board for Clustered Precincts Number 69, specifically Precinct Numbers 0215A, 0215B, 0215C, and 0216A, after being authorized by the Cotabato City Election Officer, Attorney Nasroding M. Mustapha.

“The PNP City Director of Cotabato City, Police Colonel Rommel L. Javier, has satisfactorily explained that after the casting of votes/cut off time at about 7:00 p.m. of May 9, 2022, in the respective Precincts, the PNP BEI members were mandated to tear up the unused blank Official Ballots Sheets as per Comelec Omnibus Election Code – Article 17 of Section 204 entitled Disposition of unused ballots at the close of the voting hours,” Lt. Gen. Danao said.

The BARMM Police headed by Brig. Gen. Arthur R. Cabalona, also reported that the said tearing was witnessed by Arfaj-Erven P. Ahmad, the designated Election Supervisor Officer, and poll watchers from parties of OneCotabato and UBJP.

“We hoped this clarification and verified information puts this matter to rest and further enlightened the public of the election rules and procedures,” Gen. Danao said.

The Comelec has ordered the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to look into the “tearing incident”. By Alfred Dalizon

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