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All set for barangay, SK polls on Oct. 25


Millions of voters in barangays across the country will troop to the polling places on Monday, as scheduled, to elect a new set of village-level officials and youth councils, an official of the Commission on Elections assured the public on Friday. Calming fears of a postponement, Comelec law department head Ferdinand Rafanan said elections will still be conducted in areas hit badly by super typhoon “Juan," except for three towns in Isabela. (See: Barangay polls postponed in 3 Isabela towns due to 'Juan') "Cagayan, Ifugao and the other (storm-damaged) northern Luzon provinces will still hold elections as usual," he said in an interview aired over radio dzBB. Isabela, a coastal province situated in Luzon’s northeastern flank, was the area worst-hit by the typhoon that lashed northern Philippines earlier this week. (See: NFA: Typhoon Juan to damage P1.53B worth of palay)
The delivery of election paraphernalia will be completed by Saturday, Rafanan also said, even as he reminded voters that the election rules enforced during the May 10 national polls will also apply to Monday's elections. The upcoming grassroots polls will see political aspirants—many of them belonging to or allied with political clans—battle over 672,400 elective posts in 42,025 barangays. (See: PPCRV warns vs SK being used by political dynasties) Voters for each barangay will select one village chief, one Sangguniang Kabataan (SK, or youth council) chairman, seven barangay kagawads and seven SK members. (See: Barangay and SK Elections Fast Facts) Comelec approves exemption Rafanan’s assurance came on the same day the Comelec approved en banc a request from the Supreme Court that members of the judiciary be exempted from the gun ban amid recent attacks and threats against their colleagues. (See: Comelec exempts judges, prosecutors from gun ban) The poll body had earlier junked the request, but it decided to overturn its decision after SC administrator and spokesman Jose Midas Marquez asked for reconsideration. "Napag-isipan ng Commission en banc na itong judges, SC justices at public prosecutors ay maaaring matawag din na law enforcers in nature, kaya binigyan sila ng exemption," he told radio dzBB in an interview. (The Commission concluded en blanc that these judges, SC justices and public prosecutors can also be considered law enforcers in nature, so they were granted an exemption.) Rafanan however clarified that only those who filed a request of exemption with the Comelec can start carrying firearms. The exemption means that the permits to carry firearms (PTCs) issued to judges and prosecutors will no longer be suspended, Rafanan said. The government began implementing a nationwide gun ban on Sept. 25, in a bid to secure peaceful and orderly elections. The ban ends on Nov. 10, or 15 days after the October 25 elections. Apart from judges and prosecutors, only members of the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines, who will remain on duty on election day, are exempted from the gun ban. Those found carrying firearms without a Comelec permit during the ban period may be jailed from one to six years and will lose the right to run for public office. The most recent attack on a member of the judiciary was on Oct. 4, when Judge Reynaldo Lacasandile, recently appointed as judge of the Regional Trial Court Branch 20 in Vigan City, Ilocos Sur, was gunned down by two men who then sped off on a motorcycle. In May, another judge, Andres Cipriano, was shot and killed by two motorcycle-riding men in Aparri, Cagayan. Cipriano and Lacasandile were the 20th and 21st judges, respectively, to be killed since 1999. In April, the high court made the same request to the Comelec when two other judges in Manila and Basilan were attacked. Both judges survived the attacks. The request, however, was not granted.—DM/JV, GMANews.TV

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