Diño urged to file cases vs officials who violated election laws
Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Assistant Secretary Martin Diño should file cases against those who violated election laws during the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) polls, a party-list lawmaker said Tuesday.
Akbayan Rep. Tom Villarin assailed Diño after the latter said the DILG would file charges against officials involved in vote-buying.
“I think DILG Asec Martin Diño should let his hands do the talking not his mouth by filing cases against those who violated election laws in the recent barangay polls,” Villarin said in a statement.
READ: DILG to file complaints vs SK, bgy poll bets caught buying votes
In an interview with ANC, Diño said they have recorded more than 100 cases of vote-buying on the day of the election alone.
Villarin stressed that the agency should have prevented these illegal acts from happening through an information drive.
“The DILG should know better and [be] prepared to prevent or even mitigate these things from happening prior to the elections through a vigorous information drive about the non-partisan nature of barangay elections,” he said.
“But sadly, they are remiss of such duties as they are too focused on federalism that our electorate strongly disapproves [of] in recent surveys,” he added.
Meanwhile, Ifugao Rep. Teddy Baguilat said he supports the DILG if it is really serious in filing cases against politicians who violated election laws.
“An honest to goodness drive to prosecute violators will surely help,” he said.
Baguilat noted that Diño, a party official of Partido Demokratiko Pilipino Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban), should refer this issue to his party.
“Be that as it may, Usec Martin Diño, being a party official of PDP-Laban, should address this concern to his party,” he said.
The lawmaker lamented that village officials have become highly politicized because of PDP-Laban’s federalism campaign “wherein village chiefs are asked to attend federalism meetings, made to pledge support to charter Change and are asked to take their oath as party members violating the principle of non-partisanship for barangay officials.” /ee
