PPCRV chair skeptical about mall-based voting

THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) should carefully study all the legal aspects of its proposal to hold elections inside shopping malls in 2016, the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) said on Tuesday.

While agreeing that mall-based voting has its fair share of potential benefits to the voting public, PPCRV chair Henriette de Villa said the Comelec should make sure that the law would not be violated in case it would push through with its plan.

“Kailangan tingnan rin yung batas. Kase sa batas, yung mga voting center hindi dapat hindi dapat privately owned,” De Villa said in an interview with Radyo Inquirer 990AM. “Baka maging problema kung yung may ari ng mall, kase privately owned yan, ay mayroong kamag-anak na kandidato, isa pang dapat tingnan ‘yun.”

READ: Voting in the malls? Why not, says Comelec | Comelec keen on pushing mall-based voting

De Villa said the commission should carefully pick which malls to tap in order to avoid conflict of interest.

“Kahit naman anong pagbabago kailangan dinadaan sa masusing pag-aaral,” she said. “Hindi ko inaalis yung impression na napakagandang suggestion nito ni Chairman Bautista kaya lang kung talagang susundin nila iyon maglagay na sila ng committee, marami naman silang tao sa Comelec sa mga barangay, pag-aralan na ang mga posibilidad in case masunod yung idea na ‘yan.”

In a bid to bring comfort and convenience to the voting public, Comelec said it would transfer some polling precincts from schools to air-conditioned malls.

Comelec Chair Andres Bautista said that during elections, malls that would be used as voting sites would be under the jurisdiction of the poll body.

“’Yun po ang nakalagay sa ating batas na dapat eh wala silang kandidato na sinusuportahan. Siguro hihingi tayo ng katibayan… Ang aking pagkaintindi is that dapat walang kamag-anak na tumatakbo,” Bautista said.

“Kaya napakahalaga na siyempre kapag binigay nila yung espasyo, yung espasyo will be under the control of Comelec,” he added.

Section 42 of the Omnibus Election Code states that public schools or any other public buildings within the barangay shall be used as polling places. With reports by Angeli Mae Cantillana and Arianne Merez, INQUIRER.net trainees