Maguindanao del Norte town to be placed under Comelec control

MANILA, Philippines — The municipality of Datu Odin Sinsuat in Maguindanao del Norte will be placed under the control of the  Commission on Elections, Comelec chairman George Erwin Garcia said on Thursday.

Garcia clarified that the commission en banc rejected the recommendation to put the entire province under Comelec control.

The Comelec control order, Garcia said, will be effective immediately once the poll body releases its resolution.

Once put under Comelec control, the poll body will be the de facto local government unit in charge in that area.

“At this point, the focus of the Comelec is the Datu Odin Sinsuat,” Garcia said in an ambush interview at Palacio del Gobernador in Manila.

This development came after the killing of a Comelec officer in the said town.

Comelec provincial election supervisor Bai Maceda Lidasan Abo was attacked while she was on her way to her office in Barangay Dalican, Datu Odin Sinsuat on March 26.

She and her husband died on the spot.

When asked if the commission en banc was “unanimous” in declaring Comelec control in that area, Garcia answered in the affirmative.

Garcia, however, said the Comelec en banc needs to do guidelines to clearly define what constitutes a Comelec control.

“For the first time, let’s enumerate what we should do once we declare an area under the Comelec control. What is the end result you want and what do you want to happen in that area,” Garcia said.