Tabuk City, Kalinga - The Department of Interior and Local Governments here has ordered the board of canvassers of the Liga ng mga Barangay (Liga) of Rizal town to report within 72 hours on how the Liga conducted its elections on December 11 which resulted into two different sets of officers.
Provincial Director Francisco Gamatero said the report should have been submitted within 24 hours after the elections but as of December 18, his office; had not yet received it. Gamatero said that his order for the BES which is headed by the Municipal Local Government Operation Officer with the Municipal Election Officer (MEO) and a representative from an NGO or the religious sector as members to submit sworn statements on how the elections were conducted.
Gamatero explained that while it is true under the Liga election guidelines, the BES should have ruled on the controversy with its decision appealable to the national Liga but the DILG provincial, office decided to intervene to facilitate the resolution of the case "to "preserve relations among our people in Kalinga."
After being informed of the election of the two sets of officers, the Kalinga DILG right away referred the matter to the legal division of the DILG regional office for legal recommendations.
"While the BES was organized as a quasi-judicial body to perform mandates pursuant to Liga policies and guidelines, we also recognize how valuable relations are especially in this part of the region which are manifested by strings of relationships that bounded us since time immemorial. Furthermore, the Liga is supposed to foster camaraderie among its members all for the progress of the province and should therefore not be a cause of dissension," Gamatero said.
Gamatero confided that he had expected it was the Liga elections of Lubuagan which would again give the DILG-Kalinga headaches this year as the town has a history of disorderly Liga elections "but it turned out to be the most orderly and peaceful."
"Expecting some trouble, I requested for police assistance for the Lubuagan Liga elections but it was smooth and took only 30 minutes as the incumbent Liga president of the town conceded defeat immediately," Gamatero said.
Gamatero said that it appears the cause of the row in Rizal was the change in the Liga policy on the payment of dues on all levels as a qualification to vote and be voted upon.
Under the old policy, no Liga member could stand for elections unless he is fully updated with his obligations to the Liga in all levels with the cutoff date for payment on December 6.
"However, on December 5, Memorandum Circular 2007-156 was issued deferring the payment of dues at all levels, anyway those who will win will be confirmed as requisite for sitting in the council and before confirmation, they should have settled all their dues which means that during the December 11 elections, all had equal chance to vote and be voted upon. We disseminated the circular through text messaging and hard copies and I believe Rizal had a copy," Gamatero said.
Gamatero continued that majority of the Liga chapters in the province questioned the new policy on election day but when his office clarified the issue, all the other chapters accepted the new guideline except for some Liga members in Rizal. **By Estanislao Albano Jr., ZZW Dec. 23, 2007
Provincial Director Francisco Gamatero said the report should have been submitted within 24 hours after the elections but as of December 18, his office; had not yet received it. Gamatero said that his order for the BES which is headed by the Municipal Local Government Operation Officer with the Municipal Election Officer (MEO) and a representative from an NGO or the religious sector as members to submit sworn statements on how the elections were conducted.
Gamatero explained that while it is true under the Liga election guidelines, the BES should have ruled on the controversy with its decision appealable to the national Liga but the DILG provincial, office decided to intervene to facilitate the resolution of the case "to "preserve relations among our people in Kalinga."
After being informed of the election of the two sets of officers, the Kalinga DILG right away referred the matter to the legal division of the DILG regional office for legal recommendations.
"While the BES was organized as a quasi-judicial body to perform mandates pursuant to Liga policies and guidelines, we also recognize how valuable relations are especially in this part of the region which are manifested by strings of relationships that bounded us since time immemorial. Furthermore, the Liga is supposed to foster camaraderie among its members all for the progress of the province and should therefore not be a cause of dissension," Gamatero said.
Gamatero confided that he had expected it was the Liga elections of Lubuagan which would again give the DILG-Kalinga headaches this year as the town has a history of disorderly Liga elections "but it turned out to be the most orderly and peaceful."
"Expecting some trouble, I requested for police assistance for the Lubuagan Liga elections but it was smooth and took only 30 minutes as the incumbent Liga president of the town conceded defeat immediately," Gamatero said.
Gamatero said that it appears the cause of the row in Rizal was the change in the Liga policy on the payment of dues on all levels as a qualification to vote and be voted upon.
Under the old policy, no Liga member could stand for elections unless he is fully updated with his obligations to the Liga in all levels with the cutoff date for payment on December 6.
"However, on December 5, Memorandum Circular 2007-156 was issued deferring the payment of dues at all levels, anyway those who will win will be confirmed as requisite for sitting in the council and before confirmation, they should have settled all their dues which means that during the December 11 elections, all had equal chance to vote and be voted upon. We disseminated the circular through text messaging and hard copies and I believe Rizal had a copy," Gamatero said.
Gamatero continued that majority of the Liga chapters in the province questioned the new policy on election day but when his office clarified the issue, all the other chapters accepted the new guideline except for some Liga members in Rizal. **By Estanislao Albano Jr., ZZW Dec. 23, 2007
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