The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Friday said it has resolved cases with tied votes in 1,252 barangays for the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE) and have completed the proclamation of all winners throughout the country.
At least 49 candidates who tied for the BSKE were declared official winners through tossing coins and drawing slots, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said.
In a press conference, poll chairman George Garcia said 44 SK kagawads and six barangay kagawad in 19 barangays were tied but the Comelec only broke the tie for the seventh spot in five barangays.
Garcia made the pronouncement after citing reports that regional poll offices had already proclaimed the winning candidates in cases with tied vote counts.
The Comelec permits coin flips as a way of deciding tied votes as “the law mandates that it should be decided by luck,” Garcia said.
Tied votes can also be settled by drawing lots.
“I am glad to inform you that we are 100 percent done with the elections. [We have] just resolved the last tie,” Garcia said.
The Comelec registered a voter turnout of 75.76 percent for the barangay elections and 76.08 percent in SK elections based on 160 of 1,634 cities and municipalities as of Nov. 3.
These latest numbers are far higher than the voter turnout for barangay and SK elections in 2018 at 71.20 percent and 65.51, respectively.
The Comelec vowed to release the list of winning candidates in all barangays nationwide in the Comelec’s website next week.
Also on Friday, the Comelec said it has decided against filing cases against teachers who backed out of poll duty on Election Day.
“The Comelec will instead file [cases] against individuals who threatened them. In fact, we appreciated the efforts of teachers and described them as heroes,” Garcia said.
“We are not inclined to file appropriate criminal cases against our teachers, but definitely in the next few weeks or months, you will see my seriousness that we will be filing cases against those who have threatened or caused violence against our teachers, and against our personnel, and Comelec officials and employees,” Garcia said in a press conference.
He said it is up to the Department of Education to file administrative cases against the teachers if this is warranted, because they are under the agency’s jurisdiction.
Garcia admitted that their last-minute withdrawal had almost compromised the conduct of the elections in their areas of responsibility.
“Filing a criminal case is too much. They only get a small amount despite being abused and threatened. We consider them as heroes. Cases should instead be filed against those who threatened them,” he added.
The Comelec said there were 2,530 teachers in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) who did not report for poll duty due to various reasons, including threats.
Police officers also begged off replacing teachers who backed will be reported to the Philippine National Police (PNP) headquarters for appropriate administrative charges.
The PNP reported Friday that a newly proclaimed barangay kagawad was gunned down beside a barangay hall in Midsayap, Cotabato on Wednesday.
“In Region 12, we have a reported shooting incident involving a newly-proclaimed councilor. After his proclamation, he became a victim of a shooting incident,” PNP spokesperson Police Col. Jean Fajardo said in a press conference.
According to Midsayap Municipal Police Station, the victim was identified as Suharto Antilino who was recently proclaimed barangay kagawad of Barangay Poblacion.
At 9:20 a.m. on Wednesday, Antilino was talking to another person when the gunman approached and fired shots at him, the police said.
Police said before pulling the trigger, the gunman allegedly said to his victim in their local dialect, “Don’t be like that, cousin.”
Fajardo said aside from Antilino’s case, the PNP has not monitored any other election-related incidents after the Oct. 30 BSKE.
So far, the PNP has monitored 275 violent incidents suspected to be related to the elections. Of which, 47 have been confirmed to be connected with the just-concluded polls.
The current number of validated election-related incidents is already higher compared to the 40 violent incidents recorded in 2018, the PNP said.
A total of 122 incidents suspected to be related to the polls are still undergoing validation, while 106 have been confirmed to be unrelated to the elections.
Most of the confirmed election-related incidents were reported in Bangsamoro with 16 cases, followed by Northern Mindanao with 13, and Cordillera with five.
Most of these violent incidents involved shooting with 19 cases, physical injury with seven, mauling with four, and kidnapping with three.
The PNP said 2,100 people were arrested for violating the election-period gun ban and 1,589 firearms were confiscated.
Meanwhile, Fajardo disputed reports that police personnel backed out from their duties during the BSKE.
“As far as PNP is concerned, we just confirmed this morning with our Directorate for Operations that no police personnel backed out,” she said.
