- CHERYL G. CRUZ
Negros Occidental provincial election supervisor, Ma. Fatima Aspan, said Sept. 20 that she will continue serving as acting poll officer of the Bacolod Commission on Elections pending orders from the Comelec higher-ups.
“I am an employee of the Comelec and I will follow the orders of Comelec,” Aspan said in a radio interview, in reaction to the letter of Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia that called on her to inhibit as acting city election officer.
The mayor said that Aspan should stop acting as Bacolod EO to preserve the integrity of the voter registration process, as he expressed alarm over “the sudden and extremely unusual influx of transferee-registrants from out-of-town areas at the Bacolod office of the Comelec”.
“Despite the fact that EO (Kathrina Trinio) Caña has tested negative for COVID, you did not have the delicadeza to return to your regular post as the PES,” Leonardia’s letter to Aspan, dated Sept. 17, said.
Aspan was designated acting Bacolod EO Sept. 14 by Comelec Regional Director 6 Wilfredo Jay Balisado, after an employee of the city Comelec tested positive for COVID Sept. 12, which required all close contacts, including Caña, to go in isolation and be swabbed.
The negative results came out Sept. 15, but Caña told the NEGROS NOW DAILY Sept. 18 that, as per policy of their office, they have to complete the 14-day isolation period, whether they yield positive or negative swab results as close contacts.
She said the whole Comelec Bacolod staff will report for work on Sept. 27.
On the reported influx of registrants from outside Bacolod, Aspan said it is the right of anyone to transfer voter record or register in any place so long as she or he is qualified, and it is the Election Registration Board that will decide on this.
She admitted that they did not have enough Comelec employees to ensure that registrants observe the health protocols, like social distancing, but stressed that personnel of the City Legal and the nearby Police Station 1 are there for crowd control.
Aspan said she was present at the ERB hearing on the residency issue of former congressman Alfredo Benitez as a PES of Negros Occidental, adding that Bacolod Comelec is still under the jurisdiction of the provincial office.
She also said she already approved the earlier request of Leonardia for Grupo Progreso to designate watchers during the voter registration since this allowed by Comelec.
Aspan called on registrants to register early and not wait until the “last minute” to avoid overcrowding. — CGC
