DoLE Laguna officer denies charge of cheating in union certification election

A regional election officer of the Bureau of Labor Relations of the Department of Labor and Employment insisted on Monday that no cheating occured during a union certification election in Laguna last Friday, despite earlier cheating accusations. "All of these are allegations," DoLE Laguna Provincial Office supervising labor executive officer Marivic Martinez told GMA News Online in a telephone interview Monday. "May mga nahulog lang na ballots at ibinalik ko ito sa box sa harap ng mga poll watcher," she added. "If there is cheating, hindi ko sasabihing ibabalik ko." In a statement released last Saturday, labor group Pagkakaisa ng Manggagawa sa Timog Katagalugan said Martinez switched some ballots before the vote counting was concluded, in an attempt to defeat the union's certification election. "Union poll watchers Omar Legaspi and Roman Dave Gecolea narrated that Martinez made it appear that a ballot dropped [to] the floor. When Martinez docked [sic] to pick it up, she then switched it for a bunch of ballots that contained the 'NO' votes," it said. “The official ballots cast are folded in three. Surprisingly, those which came from Ms. Martinez are rolled,” the statement quoted Legaspi as saying. Martinez said all the ballots counted are verified. "May signature ito sa likod so verified talaga," she said. In a text message, Pagkakaisa ng Manggagawa sa Timog Katagalugan spokesperson Hermenegildo Marasigan said the union will file a complaint against Martinez on March 27. "Magsasampa kami ng kaso sa March 27 sa Office of the Secretary [ng DOLE]. Pag-aaralan din namin ang pagsasampa [ng reklamo] sa Ombudsman," he said. For her part, Martinez said their office has yet to receive a complaint from the union. Labor Communications Office Dir. Nicon Fameronag refused to comment on the incident. "We have already contacted the regional director and magpapadala sila bukas ng statement," he said. "Until then, we will not comment on it muna." — BM, GMA News