Residents hit LGU-led Cha-cha campaign in Mountain Province, Cagayan as farce 06-04-02

	NORDIS WEEKLY April 2, 2006
Home \| To bottom	Previous \| Next
Residents hit LGU-led Cha-cha campaign in Mountain Province, Cagayan as farce
BAGUIO CITY (Mar. 31) — The signature campaign for the charter change, which started last March 25, has reached the 10 municipalities of Mountain Province (MP) and some towns of Cagayan Valley. Residents of the said areas hit the campaign as the involved officials used different tactics in gathering signatures. As for MP, campaign initiators were identified to be barangay officials and the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), with support from the governor’s office. Locals of Cagayan Valley said that mayors of different towns called on all barangay officials to gather their respective area residents. They also claimed that they were not informed on what they are meeting for. The MP Governor’s office, through the Commission on Elections (Comelec) Provincial Officer, ensures that the Election Officers in the municipalities are in their respective offices for the verification of the signatures gathered by the officials and the DILG. The Comelec provincial office-MP allegedly received memorandum from their national office last March 29 for signature verification from the said campaign. Different MP villagers interviewed by Nordis complained that their signatures were solicited without understanding what the campaign was for as the initiators failed to explain its contents. One of the residents stated, “The signature campaign is a farce.” They added that barangay officials allegedly said the signature campaign was for the holding of the 2007 elections. Other villagers in areas where anti-Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (GMA) sentiment is strong were invited to sign the petition saying it is intended for changing the president. As for Cagayan, Aling Clemencia of Abarriongan, Sto. Nino said, “The officials said we need to convene as the mayor told them to do so. Whoever is absent will be fined. In there, they made us sign something about a constitution. But it wasn’t clear to me so I didn’t sign, but the others did.” According to barangay councilor Reginald Uggaddan of Centro, Tumauini, Isabela, some of his co-officials gave away one sardines and P20 for each person who would sign the campaign. “This move only aggravates our already worsened political and economic crises. This is GMA’s desperate move to maneuver administration toward her gain,” Uggadan stressed, together with disappointed barangay official Isabelo Adviento (Caruppian, Baggao, Cagayan). A Nordis source from the MP claimed that a mobilization fund for the signature campaign was given by the DILG national office to their provincial office. Nordis tried, as of this time, to contact both the DILG Provincial Officer about the funding and the Comelec-CAR regional director but to no avail. # Arthur L. Allad-iw and Michael Agonoy for NORDIS Post your comments, reactions to this article
Home \| Back to top	Previous \| Next

	NORDIS WEEKLY April 2, 2006
Home \| To bottom	Previous \| Next
Residents hit LGU-led Cha-cha campaign in Mountain Province, Cagayan as farce
BAGUIO CITY (Mar. 31) — The signature campaign for the charter change, which started last March 25, has reached the 10 municipalities of Mountain Province (MP) and some towns of Cagayan Valley. Residents of the said areas hit the campaign as the involved officials used different tactics in gathering signatures. As for MP, campaign initiators were identified to be barangay officials and the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), with support from the governor’s office. Locals of Cagayan Valley said that mayors of different towns called on all barangay officials to gather their respective area residents. They also claimed that they were not informed on what they are meeting for. The MP Governor’s office, through the Commission on Elections (Comelec) Provincial Officer, ensures that the Election Officers in the municipalities are in their respective offices for the verification of the signatures gathered by the officials and the DILG. The Comelec provincial office-MP allegedly received memorandum from their national office last March 29 for signature verification from the said campaign. Different MP villagers interviewed by Nordis complained that their signatures were solicited without understanding what the campaign was for as the initiators failed to explain its contents. One of the residents stated, “The signature campaign is a farce.” They added that barangay officials allegedly said the signature campaign was for the holding of the 2007 elections. Other villagers in areas where anti-Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (GMA) sentiment is strong were invited to sign the petition saying it is intended for changing the president. As for Cagayan, Aling Clemencia of Abarriongan, Sto. Nino said, “The officials said we need to convene as the mayor told them to do so. Whoever is absent will be fined. In there, they made us sign something about a constitution. But it wasn’t clear to me so I didn’t sign, but the others did.” According to barangay councilor Reginald Uggaddan of Centro, Tumauini, Isabela, some of his co-officials gave away one sardines and P20 for each person who would sign the campaign. “This move only aggravates our already worsened political and economic crises. This is GMA’s desperate move to maneuver administration toward her gain,” Uggadan stressed, together with disappointed barangay official Isabelo Adviento (Caruppian, Baggao, Cagayan). A Nordis source from the MP claimed that a mobilization fund for the signature campaign was given by the DILG national office to their provincial office. Nordis tried, as of this time, to contact both the DILG Provincial Officer about the funding and the Comelec-CAR regional director but to no avail. # Arthur L. Allad-iw and Michael Agonoy for NORDIS Post your comments, reactions to this article
Home \| Back to top	Previous \| Next