Arrest remarks just a warning, says Comelec official

AN ELECTION commissioner who said they would not hesitate to call on the military to arrest people who accuse the Commission on Elections (Comelec) of bias on Monday said his remarks were just a “warning,” not a threat.

“I am actually warning the people to obey the laws just in case they were unaware,” Election Commissioner Rey E. Bulay told a news briefing in mixed English and Filipino streamed live on Facebook. “The word I used was ‘warning.’ It was clear and I said this for the good of our countrymen.“

Lawmakers at the weekend slammed Mr. Bulay for his statement last week. Detained Senator Leila M. de Lima, a former human rights commissioner, said his remarks were “uncalled for and illegal.”

Under the constitution, the only time the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) can exercise police power, such as arresting people, is when the Philippine president calls out the AFP to suppress lawless violence, she said.

“Neither Bulay nor the Comelec is the commander-in-chief,” Ms. De Lima, one of President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s most outspoken critics, said. “Not even during elections. The Comelec’s deputization power during elections certainly does not include the power to use the AFP in stifling criticisms and suppressing free speech.”

“We will not hesitate to call upon the AFP, which is now under Comelec control, to round you up and have you jailed,” Mr. Bulay told a news briefing in mixed English and Filipino on Friday.

Meanwhile, Kontra Daya convenor Danilo A. Arao urged election commissioners to listen to public criticism as part of the democratic process.

“We call on the Comelec to listen to the sentiments of the public whether or not it is something that is positive or negative to their image,” he told the ABS-CBN Channel.

“There are cases where there is constructive criticism and such criticism would be evidence-based and a factual basis for having such kinds of perspective.”