Comelec urged to file charges vs ‘no election’ rumormongers

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) was urged to file charges against individuals spreading rumors of a no election scenario this coming May. This was proposed by Romulo Macalintal, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s election lawyer. "Kung ang kinakalat mo eh mga false information at wala kang basehan (If the information they're spreading is false and baseless)... an election offense case can be filed against them," lawyer Romulo Macalintal told reporters in an interview. Section 261, Article XXII of the Omnibus Election Code (OEC) prohibits "any person who, for the purpose of disrupting or obstructing the election process or causing confusion among the voters, propagates false and alarming reports or information or transmits or circulates false orders, directives or messages regarding any matter relating to the printing of official ballots, the postponement of the election, the transfer of polling place or the general conduct of the election." Violation of the OEC is an election offense, which is punishable by one to six years imprisonment, disenfranchisement, and disqualification from public office. Those who keep on spreading rumors about a failure of elections are just afraid of losing in automated elections and do not really understand what it actually means to have a failed election, Macalintal said. "Kapag sinabi mong failure of elections, it means no voting, but the moment you start shading the ballot o isulat yung pangalan nung kandidato sa balota, it means there is voting, and therefore there is no failure of elections," he said. (An election failure means no voting but the moment you start shading the ballot or write the name of a candidate on a ballot, it already shows that voting took place and therefore there is no failure of elections.) "Ang taong bayan ay hindi dapat matakot sa ganyang statements (The public should not be scared of statements like that)," he added. He also urged the public to not vote for candidates who propagate such rumors. "Wag ninyong iboboto ang mga tao na ito dahil sinisira nila ang ating bayan (Don't vote for these people because they are ruining our country)," he said. Although Comelec Law Department head Ferdinand Rafanan agreed that rumor mongerers must be corrected, he nevertheless said that they have the right to express such thoughts. "Sa akin lang, fear nila yun, it's their right to express their fear, bakit mo naman sila parusahan (For me, it's their right to express their fear, so why would we punish them)," he told GMANews.TV in an interview. For his part, Comelec Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal said that these people should be "careful" of their statements in the future because they have "serious repercussions." "You should not expand the meaning of failure of elections to accommodate some conspiracy theories," he said. Meanwhile, Macalintal said that he and other election lawyers are planning to come out with advertisements that would assure the voters of the success of the elections in May. "Let's give automation a chance," he said. - RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV