Verification process starts tomorrow

The Commission on Elections in Samboan will start tomorrow the verification process in the recall petition filed against the town’s vice mayor and the first councilor.

Comelec provincial supervisor Lionel Marco Castillano said they were already given the go signal by the Comelec en banc to proceed with the verification of the signatures of the close to 5,000 voters who petitioned for the recall of Samboan Vice Mayor Rogelio Capa and his son- in- law, Councilor Jeffrey Catipay.

“We will compare the signatures attached to the petition with the signatures in our records if it is similar or not,” Castillano said.

Acting election officer Emerito Allosada of Samboan will head the simultaneous verification of the 4,913 signatures against Capa and the 4,947 signatures against Catipay. Castillano said they need 2,000 genuine signatures, which is 25percent of the 8,000 total voting population of the town, based on the National Statistics Office records, for the petition to prosper.

At least seven town councilors led by former Partylist Rep. Emerito Calderon filed the petition for recall against Capa and Catipay on the ground that they have already lost confidence on both officials.

Castillano said they have just verified the signatures of the petitioners, who must be registered voters of the municipality, after which, they then asked the authority of the Presidential Election Tribunal ( PET) to use the book of voters or the list of voters with voting records.

Castillano said that two committees were created to conduct the verification under the supervision of the election officer. The result of the verification will be forwarded to the Comelec en banc to decide whether or not to grant the recall and conduct a recall election in the town.