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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Rody ready to call in battalion of troops to crush politicians’ goons

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Politicians who will use violence through armed goons to intimidate voters in their areas could face an Army battalion sent by President Rodrigo Duterte himself.

This was the President’s warning on Tuesday night at a campaign rally for administration bets in Malabon City, as he reminded the police and the military to remain non-partisan ahead of the May 13 midterm elections.

In other poll-related developments:

• The Commission on Elections on Wednesday urged Filipinos working or living abroad to participate in the overseas absentee voting (OAV) for the May elections.

The poll body reminded Filipinos overseas that the OAV period will start on April 13.

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“Wherever you are in the world, you can vote and participate in the elections,” Comelec said on its Twitter account.

• Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, campaign manager of the administration slate Hugpong ng Pagbabago, skipped the regional party’s campaign sortie in Tangub, Misamis Occidental on Wednesday, with her staff saying “something came up” for the President’s daughter.

This was the second time in the 90-day campaign period that Duterte-Carpio skipped a sortie. She was supposed to pitch for administration candidates until noon Wednesday, but she and her staff left Sindang, Zamboanga del Norte on her motorcycle around 6:30 a.m., her staff said.

The last time “Inday Sara” skipped a campaign sortie, HNP candidates barnstormed the Bicol Region a few weeks back.

• Opposition Otso Diretso senatorial bets believe there is a “deliberate effort” to use social media to distort their image as the campaign for the midterm elections intensifies.

Senatorial aspirants Jose Manuel “Chel” Diokno and Florin Hilbay noted how their slate has been barraged online by criticism, including jokes about their physical appearance and supposed errors on Facebook and Twitter, but they have not faced such harsh attacks in the streets.

“Don’t make the mistake of using those goons, because I will send an Army battalion against you, for real. I will order the Armed Forces to go to Malabon and arrest everyone with firearms,” Duterte said at the PDP-Laban campaign rally in Malabon City.

To government forces, he added: “Be neutral or I will remove you. You must be in the middle. I will not allow the police or the military to be used by anybody—whether partymates or political opponents.”

“Their job is to maintain law and order without fear or favor. That is what the Constitution mandates, that is what we will follow,” he added.

Meanwhile, voters overseas will be participating in the national polls as they will only elect 12 senators and one party-list group.

There are a total of 1,822,173 overseas absentee voters, according to the data from the Comelec- Office for Overseas Voting (OFOV).

Of the number, most of them are land-based workers numbering to 1,779,140 while the rest are sea-based workers at 43,033.

The Middle East and African Region has the highest number of registered voters with 887,744; followed by the Asia Pacific Region with 401,390; North and Latin American Region with 345,415; and European Region with 187,624.

Comelec spokesman James Jimenez noted that there are various modes in casting their votes under the OAV, automated voting using the vote counting machines (VCMs), manual voting through posting and personal voting.

“It depends on the area where one is casting his/her vote,” he said on his Twitter account. 

As for sea-based workers, the Comelec official added that they will be able to cast their votes wherever they may be.

A total of 41 out of the 83 countries/posts will be using the VCM and 42 countries/posts will be utilizing the manual system of voting, including 29 postal voting and 13 personal voting. 

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