Comelec Peace Covenant in Negros Oriental 2022
The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) held a Peace Covenant in Negros Oriental this April 25, 2022. Local candidates for the Philippine Elections 2022 attended the peace covenant along with police and military officials in Sibulan.
Peace Covenant in Negros Oriental
The signing of the peace covenant, which comes less than two weeks before the May 9 polls, was attended by Governor Roel Degamo, Vice Governor Mark Macias, Third District Rep. Arnie Teves, Board Member Erwin Macias, and former Rep. George Arnaiz, among others. The signing was led and headed by Comelec Commissioner George Erwin Garcia.
Complete Transparency in May 2022 Polls
The instructions given to Comelec field personnel and their main office personnel is to always ensure transparency and accountability without compromising the security of the ballots, as well as the counting machines and the SD cards. Garcia shared that in his two-decade practice during the elections since 2010, it has been his advocacy to find out whether the machines are counting properly or not.
He said that he is a “living witness” since 2010, that there was not a single ballot box that they opened with him being either the lawyer of the protestant or the protestee that the result came out different between the count of the machine and the manual count.
We will always ensure under the leadership of our Chairman, complete transparency and accountability in this election,” Garcia said.
We will ensure the public, the electorate, that there will not be a single part of the process of the election na hindi makikita o hindi malalaman ng ating publiko,” he added.
Garcia also mentioned that he can “honestly” say that the Vote Counting Machines (VCMs) are just mere counting machines. What comes out in the canvassing in municipality and city is just a consolidation of it. According to him, what should be focused on is the prevention of irregularities such as vote-buying.
The Comelec has been conducting peace covenant signings the past few weeks as a means to instill discipline and peace and show that the Comelec will be in full control of the situation.
