Marinduque Rising: Without a single vote as basis, Marinduque candidates including a disqualified candidate proclaimed winners in another moro-moro

Friday, May 17, 2013

Without a single vote as basis, Marinduque candidates including a disqualified candidate proclaimed winners in another moro-moro

Part of the 'Catch-me' game between provincial election supervisor
and process server from COMELEC. Other photos below.

Where on earth have you seen a Comelec representative, one with authority from no less than Comelec Chairman Sixto S. Brillantes, Jr., wearing appropriate ID and has properly introduced himself as such, to serve a Comelec en banc resolution, being completely ignored by the Provincial Board of Canvassers that includes the ridiculous sight of its chairman engaging said representative (a process server) in a physical game of catch-me-if-you can before the very eyes of everyone present? A Comelec process server completely ignored and treated with utter disrespect by the provincial board of canvassers?

Where on earth, have you ever seen, a couple of minutes later after that act, the said chairman hurriedly ordering the reading of an Order for the Municipal Board of Canvassers (MBOC’S) of Gasan, Buenavista and Torrijos in this province of Marinduque to lower the threshold of canvassing in connection with the elections, for them to transmit the COC’s for certain elective positions (Governor, Vice-Governor and Congressman), and in the very next paragraph of the same Order, without waiting for such COC’s to be transmitted, without any certificates of canvass or certificates of votes, without citing any single vote or figure in fact, loudly proclaim the winners for those positions?

Yes, proclaiming winners without citing any figures as basis for that proclamation!

And where on earth, have you seen that after that shotgun proclamation, amid protestations being expressed by certain counsels in behalf of their candidates for the irregularities and for outright disregard to Comelec rules the election proceedings would be adjourned? “You can file a case against me!”, the chairman would say.

At the very moment this is happening election results from only three municipalities (Mogpog, Sta. Cruz and Boac), have been transmitted to the provincial board of canvassers.

Where, but only in Marinduque, where else. This happened two days ago, Wednesday, May 15, 2013, at the provincial capitol of Marinduque, the seat of power. And never mind if the whole affair was being caught on video for all the world to see. Or maybe that’s really a display of how things are done in Marinduque under the rule of the powers that be, and how they could get away with them, so they think – for all the world to see.

The said video shows this seemingly hurriedly scripted game that transpired after a supposed 10-minute recess, a recess that dragged on suspiciously for two hours.

That the elections in Marinduque was marked by massive vote-buying, threats, intimidation and harassment by goons, violence and suspicious behavior or malfunction of certain PCOS machines here and there (reason for the delay in the canvassing of votes that has been tackled in the social media).

But no one seemed prepared for the above episode to transpire, one for Ripley’s, maybe. But, local political pundits say a similar thing happened sometime in Marinduque’s contemporary history, but in that instance a non-winner was declared winner, but they used padded results as basis with provincial board of canvassers, under duress, cooperating with the perpetrators. Still, those wrongdoers considered the importance of showing figures, the number of votes. But that was then.

This time, that’s no longer important. Basta i-proclaim mo at huwag ka nang magpakita pagkatapos. The day after this erratic proclamation, there was reported news over Corina Sanchez’ DZMM radio program to the effect that the local police had information that the provincial election supervisor is no longer in Marinduque.

Photos below presents the catch-me-if-you-can game that shows the actuation of the election supervisor (in blue jacket), as the poor, perplexed process server from Comelec head office follows him for the service of the Comelec en banc resolution.