Pangarungan assures authority to declare areas of concern under 'Comelec Control' will not be abused (Sabong News)
Author
Leslie Ann Aquino
Date
APRIL 11 2022
Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Saidamen Pangarungan has assured that he will not abuse the authority given to him to declare areas under their control.
“I can assure you that power will not be abused. It will be exercised sparingly only on urgent and meritorius cases and I will only exercise that power upon recommendation of the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Chief of the Philippine National Police,” he said in a press briefing in Manila on Monday, April 11.
“I’m imposing that limitations to myself to the exercise of that power,” added Pangarungan.
The poll chief said he was granted such authority by the en banc on April 6.
Previously, it is the En Banc that has the authority to place certain areas in the country under Comelec Control.
Pangarungan said the authorization is aimed at expediting the process of placing an area under Comelec Control, whenever necessary.
In Resolution No. 10757, any political division, subdivision, unit, or area may be placed under Comelec Control when the peace and order situation in the area may affect the conduct of elections.
Grounds for the declaration of Comelec Control, include having history of or current intense rivalry among the contending parties; areas that have been previously declared under Comelec Control; incidence of politically-motivated violence involving aspirants/candidates and/or their supporters; violence that maybe facilitated by the employment of Private Armed Groups (PAGs); and presence of serious armed threats posed by the communist terrorist group (CTG) and/or other threat groups including the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG), the Maute Group, and other analogous threat groups.
