Comelec monitoring Gonzalez's offer to village dads
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is keeping an eye on the offer of Justice Sec. Raul Gonzalez Sr. to any barangay head who can deliver a 12-0 victory for Team Unity senatorial candidates.
Concurrent provincial and city election supervisor, lawyer Elizabeth Doronila yesterday ordered Jonathan Sayno of the city Comelec to verify the presence of village officials inside polling places in Brgys. Sambag and San Isidro in Jaro district, and another precinct in the City Proper.
She issued the order after receiving reports from the media that several barangay officials positioned themselves at or near the polling places.
"You go over there and have a look. Bring a camera and take photos," she told Sayno over the phone yesterday. As of noontime yesterday, she has yet to receive a report.
Doronila said that only members of the Board of Election Inspectors, poll watchers and the voters are allowed inside the polling places.
Barangay officials are definitely not among those allowed to stay inside the polling places, she stressed.
The reported presence of barangay officials in the polling places, Doronila said, may be the result of the offer of Gonzalez, who is the head of the administration party in Iloilo City. Gonzalez boasts that majority of the City's 180 barangay chiefs are with him.
Earlier, Gonzalez promised P10,000 to punong barangays who can deliver a landslide victory for the administration's senatorial candidates in their villages. He said that the money will come not from government coffers but from his own pocket.
Opposition reelectionist Sen. Panfilo Lacson has charged Gonzalez before the Ombudsman following the offer.
Doronila opined that Gonzalez cannot be made liable for the offer alone. She said that Gonzalez incurs liability only after the secretary has actually parted with the cash reward.
He can only be made liable if money did indeed changed hands, she explained.