The Commission on Elections urged the group of presidential candidate Leni Robredo in Negros Occidental to file formal complaints against those who harassed and threatened them.
Provincial election supervisor, Atty. Roberto Salazar, said that his office is ready to receive their formal complaint, anytime.
Former Gov. Rafael Coscolluela, chairperson of the Robredo People’s Council in Negros Occidental, earlier said the volunteers and supporters of Vice President Robredo received threats and were barred from campaigning, or bringing in campaigners, into one of the towns in the fourth district of Negros Occidental.
Coscolluela also aired his concerns on the dirty tactics employed by the followers of rival presidential candidate, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., an accusation vehemently debunked by his cousin, former Murcia mayor Esteban “Sonny” Coscolluela, spokesman of the BBM-Sara tandem in Negros Occidental.
If there are formal complaints, Salazar said he will discuss it with the security sector of the Joint Provincial Security Coordinating Center, so that an investigation could be conducted.
The former governor said he agrees with Salazar that a formal complaint should be filed.
“Our problem is, it is difficult to find a witness, who is willing to sign a complaint affidavit. I can understand that they feel defenseless,” Coscolluela said.
“We don’t want to bring these all the way to every legal process allowed by the law. We have better things to do. But we are just pointing this out, to make the public realize that the dirty tactics are surfacing,” he added.
He said that the other camp even intensified its dirty tactics, among them the “Operation Baklas”, with people being paid as much as P1,000 a day to remove Robredo posters, the former governor said./GB
