Comelec rules out discrepancy in Cotabato City's BOL votes, blames clerical error

There is no discrepancy in the total number votes cast in the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) plebiscite and the number of voters in Cotabato City, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said Wednesday.

Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez clarified that the Certificate of Canvass in Cotabato City signed by the Comelec’s Municipal Board of Canvassers showing the number of votes cast exceeding the number of those who cast their votes resulted from an apparent clerical error of a Comelec employee.

Jimenez maintained that the ‘yes' vote to BOL ratification stands at 36,682 as against 24,994 who voted ‘no’ pending canvassing of the votes by the National Board of Canvassers, and that 61,676 out of the 113,751 registered voters in Cotabato City voted during the conduct of Day 1 of the BOL plebiscite last January 21.

“Upon verification with the [document showing] Project of Precincts, it would appear that a clerical error has been made,” Jimenez said.

“Such an error can be raised and corrected during the National Canvass [of votes], without affecting the outcome of the plebiscite, either in Cotabato City alone, or throughout the entire plebiscite area,” Jimenez added.

In the event that the yes votes win, the BOL will replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) with a Bangsamoro Autonomous Region which will have an expanded land and water jurisdiction, as well as enjoy fiscal autonomy, increased share in national government resources, among others.

The ARMM’s seat of government has been located in Cotabato City since 2001, but the city is not under the ARMM jurisdiction since its residents voted no to ARMM inclusion during the 1999 and 2001 plebiscite.

The Comelec en banc will convene as the National Board of Canvassers at 1 p.m. on Wednesday at the Comelec office in Manila.

The canvassing of BOL votes was supposed to start on Tuesday or a day after Day 1 of the BOL plebiscite, but the Comelec deferred it pending the arrival of Certificate of Canvass from BOL areas.

As of 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, the ‘yes’ vote garnered over one million votes as against the ‘no’ votes which only reached 192,502 based on the partial and unofficial tally of the BOL Plebiscite Monitoring Center composed of contingents from the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine National Police and the Comelec.

Day 2 of the polls on BOL ratification is scheduled on February 6. It will be conducted in six municipalities of Lanao del Norte namely Baloi, Munai, Nunungan, Pantar, Tagaloan and Tangcal and 39 barangays of North Cotabato located in the municipalities of Aleosan, Carmen, Cabacan, Midsayap, Pigkawayan, and Pikit. —KG, GMA News