Canvassing was temporarily stopped due to the malfunctioning compact flash cards and the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines in two clustered precincts of two villages. The Comelec said they are anticipating for more or less a thousand votes to be canvassed.
By DANILDA L. FUSILERO
Davao Today
KIDAPAWAN CITY, Cotabato, Philippines – Women groups here remained vigilant, even staging a round-the-clock monitoring since yesterday, to protect the still uncanvassed ballots deposited in the City Treasurer’s Office and in the Sangguniang Panlungsod.
“We have to be cautious. Our candidate’s initial rank in the recent poll tabulations plays between 10th and 11th,” said Marynil Garcia, coordinator for women’s group Gabriela, referring to Ruby Padilla-Sison, Makabayan Coalition’s lone bet for councilor.
Under the Local Government Code and as component city, Kidapawan has a 12-member Legislative Council. Ten of these are elective posts with two reserved seats for the President of the Association of Barangay Chairman (ABC) and the city’s Sangguniang Kabataan (SK).
Partial and unofficial results from the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) and the local Commission on Elections (Comelec) showed that Padilla-Sison and former provincial Board Member Reynaldo Pagal (Independent) are in the 10th and 11th slots with the former earning 18,368 votes compared to the latter’s 18,284 votes – a very slim difference of 84 votes.
The local Comelec here confirmed the tight competition of votes between the two candidates but said that once the canvassing continued with the two remaining clustered precincts, the ranking of those in the borderline may have possible movements, including those who occupied initial ranks of nine to 15.
Canvassing was temporarily stopped due to the malfunctioning compact flash cards and the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines in two clustered precincts of two villages. The Comelec said they are anticipating for more or less a thousand votes to be canvassed.
“We are now on recess awaiting the CF cards from our central office. We got an information from Manila that the replacement CF cards are now in transit,” Kidapawan City Elections Officer Amelita Failano told davaotoday.com.
Failano said canvassing is set to resume Wednesday afternoon but “if wala parin yong mga replacement CF cards, we will be forced to reset again the canvassing kasi di naman pwedeng ituloy na wala yong replacements.”
Jocelyn Acquaitan of the Network of Women, a local women’s group here, also joined the vigil for some hours last night. The said network endorsed Padilla-Sison’s candidacy.
“We have to be critical in safeguarding the votes for Padilla-Sison because a vote for her is a vote for the women and children’s rights,” said Acquiatan.
Garcia echoed Acquaitan’s statement, adding that Gabriela’s primary advocacy is “to lodge a truly women’s rights fighter in the halls of the city council.” Like in other parts of the country, she added, women and children in Kidapawan City also need a “genuine representation in the local legislative body”.
Before the filing of her candidacy, Padilla-Sison was Gabriela’s provincial chairperson.
Other groups who take turns in watching over the ballots and PCOS machines include representatives from the city’s Local Council of Women led by their president Sr. Lalyn Macahilo, OND; members of the Urban Poor Women’s groups led by Lina de Vera; Kontra-Daya North Cotabato; and volunteers of the Koalisyong Makabayan.
“We just want to ensure that ballots are properly safeguarded pending the completion of the canvass,” said Herminigilda Escalante, manager of the Family Planning Office here.
As of 4PM today, ballots from a clustered precinct are re-feed to a PCOS machine with the replacement CF cards. (Danilda L. Fusilero/davaotoday.com)
Comelec, cotabato, Election, NoCot, north cotabato
