PPCRV: Echiverri supporters harassing volunteers

Mayor Recom Echiverri. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — “They are just volunteers; they are here to help. Please don’t harass them.”

Ana De Villa-Singson, Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) media director, told reporters Monday afternoon that legitimate volunteers of the poll watchdog were being harassed in Caloocan City by alleged supporters of Mayor Enrico “Recom” Echiverri.

She said that they have received reports of supposed members of Echiverri’s group pretending to be PPCRV volunteers and threatening legitimate volunteers.

“Please don’t threaten the volunteers,” she appealed.

Meanwhile, PCOS machine foul up, dried up markers, power outages and signal jammers continued to plague several areas in Caloocan.

In San Juan, De Villa-Singson said that voters have resorted to shading their ballots using ball pens after markers dried up.

“There is no supply (of markers) coming from Comelec,” she said.

“Diinan na lang, hopefully mababasa (Just apply some pressure and hopefully it can be read by the machine),” suggested the PPCRV officer.

In Los Baños, Laguna, PPCRV has received reports of three PCOS machines which have stopped working.

“One is overheating while two are not working. They have resorted to manual voting,” said De Villa-Singson of the machines in Los Baños.

The use of signal jammers has also been monitored in Ilocos Sur.

In Karuhatan, Valenzuela, voters have started leaving their ballots at the polling centers after the PCOS machine broke down at around 1:30 p.m.

She said that continuous brownouts in Bacauan, Iloilo also derailed voting in the said area.