SK voter hoarding scandal in Agusan hard to prove — Comelec

BUENAVISTA, Agusan del Norte — Two Commission on Elections officials here admitted on Sunday that it was difficult to prove allegations of voter hoarding filed against a teenager running for SK chairman in Barangay Poblacion 2. Reacting to a complaint filed by two Buenavista town councilors that some 40 registered SK voters were being hoarded by Ximatrix Atazan, 17, who is running for SK Chairman in Barangay 2, Agusan del Norte, Provincial Comelec officer Roland Edayan said the complaint should have been filed by the parents of the teenagers, and not the councilors, whose children are also running against Atazan for the top SK post. Edayan told GMANEWS.TV that parents of the teenage voters now housed at a beach resort in Carmen town located some 15 km away had not complained that their sons and daughters were being hoarded, and had even signed a written consent. Philippine elections laws bar candidates from forcing, coercing or forcibly urging registered voters to favor or support them by forcibly hiding or housing them. On Friday, two Buenavista municipal councilors filed a complaint before the Municipal Comelec office alleging that the SK chairperson bet was hiding 40 out of the total 67 registered SK voters of Barangay 2 here. In a one-page complaint furnished to GMANews.TV, Buenavista town councilors Maria Victoria Nakila and Eduardo Makiling claimed that Atazan brought the teenage voters to the beach resort Carmen Viranda II in Barangay Rojales, Carmen, Agusan del Norte. In his complaint, Nakila said that Michele Cacho, an employee at the Carmen Veranda II Beach Resort, had confirmed the presence of the teenagers at the resort. The group of youth was booked at the hotel up until the morning of Monday, the day when SK voters will cast their votes, he said. Nakila even presented the local poll authorities with photos of the teenage voters, which she alleged were being hidden by the SK bet. Nakila and Makiling asked acting Buenavista Municipal Comelec officer Abelardo Saco to disqualify Atazan, saying that the SK bet had intended to gather young voters and release them on the day of election, when they would be allegedly hoarded to the polling precincts. The two councilors claimed that this constituted electioneering, a violation of the Omnibus Election Code. The children of both complainants are running against Atazan for top SK post in Barangay Poblacion 2. Nakila’s daughter Michelle, 17, and Makiling’s son Randy, 17, are both seeking the top SK post. Hard to prove The provincial poll chief, however, said the claim of hoarding was difficult to prove, since the young voters had voluntarily gone with Atazan to the beach resort. “The case would be debatable if the voters themselves voluntarily joined the candidate to go for a picnic, party or whatever… much more if a written consent is signed by the voters, or in the case of minors, by their the parents," Edayan said. He also said it was very difficult to prove that the SK bet was the one who paid the venue for the group’s gathering. While election laws allow candidates for SK and Barangay elections to spend only P3 per voter, it is very difficult to prove that there was a violation of this stipulation, when all teenagers in the group claimed that they contributed for the gathering, Edayan said. The Comelec officer of Buenavista town, however, vowed to conduct an investigation of the alleged hoarding. Saco assured GMANews.TV that he had already written a letter to Atazan and others concerned to submit their explanations about alleged hoarding. “I wrote SK Chair bet Ximatrix Atazan to submit his explanation as soon as possible" Saco said. 27, not 40 Interviewed at the beach resort Carmen Viranda II by GMANews.TV on Saturday evening, Atazan denied the accusations, saying that all the 27 SK registered voters that he brought to the beach resort voluntarily joined him for a gathering that he described as “bonding moments." GMANews.TV also found only 27 SK voters and not 40 as the town councilors had claimed, gathered with the beleaguered SK bet. Atazan’s father, Martin Atazan, an engineer and contractor with the Buenavista town building office also told GMANews.TV that the parents of the 27 SK voters signed a written consent saying that they allowed their teenage children to join Atazan, and that this statement was even notarized. He also said the municipal councilors were “just sourgraping." “And why only us when almost all SK candidates in Buenavista were also bringing other SK voters to other areas, even as far as Camiguin Island and some even in Cagayan de Oro City?" the engineer asked in an interview with GMANews.TV. The two Comelec officials admitted that hoarding incidents are commonly reported in all parts of Agusan del Norte, if not the whole Caraga region, and particularly in Buenavista town, which has a total of 25 barangays. “But only the Barangay Poblacion 2 incident became prominent because official sworn complaint reached the Comelec office," the two poll officials said. - DM/KBK, GMANews.TV