Comelec will bar replacement of BARMM poll board members —Garcia

The Commission on Elections would not allow the reported replacement of electoral board members in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao for the May 9 polls, Commissioner George Garcia said on Friday.

Interviewed on GMA News’ Unang Balita, Garcia pointed out that teachers designated in election boards nationwide had undergone training to be effective on their election day duties.

“Siyempre po, hindi namin po papayagan sapagkat napakaimportante ‘yun pong mga guro na atin pong naitalaga na bilang mga electoral board sa buong Pilipinas yan po ay na-train,” he said.

(Of course, we will not allow the alleged replacement move because teachers assigned for poll duties have been trained to do their work effectively.)

Teachers on election duty even need to obtain a certification from the Department of Science and Technology as required under existing regulations and laws, Garcia pointed out.

In a radio interview on Thursday, Cotabato City mayor Frances Cynthia Guiani-Sayadi said teachers were protesting that their names were removed from the list of electoral board members and replaced with other educators.

“Nagsalita yung mga guro dahil ang sabi nila yang ipapalit niyo sa amin na mga Islamic teachers walang training yan. Hindi yan naisyuhan ng DOST certificate na nagpapatunay na qualified sila maging member,” she said.

[Designated teachers complained, saying that the Islamic educators who are supposed to replace them do not have training and they have no DOST certification to perform poll duties.] 

She claimed that the office of the Ministry of Basic, Higher and Technical Education of the BARMM first replaced the superintendent before removing the teachers.

Sayad also claimed that the ministry is allegedly controlling the election officer in making the list of electoral board members. —LBG, GMA News