By Ferdinand Patinio with reports from Christopher Lloyd Caliwan/Philippine News Agency
MANILA — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is now investigating the supposed inspection of vote counting machine (VCMs) and other election paraphernalia by a policeman at the poll body’s warehouse in Baguio City last week.
In a press briefing, Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said he has started asking local poll body personnel about the incident.
“Nagtatanong pa lang ako doon sa Baguio City because ang pagkakaintindi ko dyan was delivery ‘yun ng VCM dun sa (I already asked the people in Baguio City because my understanding was that the VCM was being delivered in the) regional hub. This is just preliminary information. Ang alam ko, ‘yung delivery may kasamang security. So na-picturean ‘yung pulis na tinitingnan ‘yung proseso (What I know is the delivery comes with security. What was caught in the picture was the police officer who is looking at the process). The picture shows a stack of VCMs, a representative of the forwarder and the policeman,” the poll body official said.
Jimenez was referring to the photo which was posted in social media last week, where Cordillera Regional Police Office director, Brig. Gen. Israel Dickson, was seen inspecting the machines and other election paraphernalia at the Comelec warehouse in the city.
Earlier, Commissioner Rowena Guanzon noted that such action is not allowed without the permission of the poll body.
“No one is allowed to inspect our warehouses without permission, even if they are directors of PNP,” she said in her Twitter account, @commguanzon on Sunday.
Meanwhile, PNP spokesperson, Col. Bernard Banac said Dickson does not intend to inspect the VCMs but to ensure the safety of the facility of the warehouse.
“Well we take due notice of the announcement by the Comelec and being one of the deputized agencies of Comelec in this election period, we will ensure that this will not happen again. Our regional director in Cordillera already said there was no intention to inspect the VCMs,” Banac told reporters Tuesday when sought for a comment.
Banac, meanwhile, assured the public that the PNP will always comply with Comelec resolutions and all policies being implemented.
He also vowed to make sure that there will be no repeat of such incident, stressing that they will properly communicate with Comelec officials before acting on these matters.
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