Comelec: Cops to replace 800 teachers who won’t serve in BARMM polls

COTABATO CITY — Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairperson George Erwin Garcia said Sunday that more than 800 public school teachers have withdrawn as electoral board members for the Bangsamoro Parliamentary Elections (BPE) on Monday, but assured that this would not affect the historic balloting.

Garcia said Special Electoral Boards (SEBs), composed of Philippine National Police (PNP) members, will take over their tasks in administering the elections in several parts of the region.

“Most of the teachers were from Maguindanao del Sur,” Garcia told reporters after inspecting the regional canvassing area inside the Army’s Camp Siongco headquarters in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao del Norte.

He said 137 teachers from Cotabato City did not show up during the final testing and sealing of Automated Counting Machines (ACMs) on Saturday and, per Comelec protocol, will be replaced by SEBs.

The others were from Lanao del Sur, Tawi-Tawi, and the Special Geographic Area.

READ: What to know about BARMM’s first parliamentary elections

“They have various reasons, mostly due to having relatives as candidates in parliamentary districts,” Garcia said.

He said the replacement police officers have been duly trained and certified by the Department of Science and Technology to operate the ACMs. /mcm