Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes reveals that two alleged swindler from Lanao Del Sur who claim to be enginner of Smartmatic and offer services to politician were arrested in an entrapment operation during a press conference in Commission on Election office in Manila.The suspects claim they can manipulate election results in exchange of five million pesos.RICHARD A. REYES/INQUIRER
MANILA, Philippines – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has finished voting on the disqualification case of three partylists found to have violated campaign rules and is set to announce its decision soon, Chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. said Wednesday.
“We have already conducted a raffle on who will write the decision,” Brillantes told reporters in a media briefing. “That means we have already finished voting.”
He, however, declined to disclose the commissioner who was tasked to write the decision and the gist of the ruling.
Piston, Kabataan and LPG Marketers Association (LPGMA) partylists were all charged with violations of campaign rules on election materials. Kabataan was charged for placing posters along the center island of Taft Avenue and streamers inside the Polytechnic University of the Philippine campus.
Brillantes, in an earlier interview, also said they are also preparing to file cases against other candidates who also violated the poster rules.
“Meron na kaming mga susunod na mga kaso pa na idedemanda, hindi ko pa sasabihin baka maunahan, marami-rami pa, sunod-sunod na yan, hindi na kami titigil,” Brillantes said.
(We have more cases to file but I won’t divulge their names so we can’t be pre-empted. There will be a flurry of filing of cases and we will not stop.)
He further warned all local candidates to begin taking down their election materials in prohibited areas ahead of the start of the local campaign period on March 29.
“All the provincial election supervisors and officers nationwide have been given instructions to start sending out legal notices against candidates on April 1 so that their three-day notice will immediately begin,” Brillantes said.
“If they don’t remove within three days we will start filing charges against the local candidates,” he said.