Comelec-Negros Oriental provincial election supervisor-designate lawyer Lionel Marco Castillano. (PNA file photo by Judy Flores Partlow) DUMAGUETE CITY - The Commission on Elections (Comelec) in Negros Oriental does not have the authority to transfer the votes earned by a nuisance candidate, who has been disqualified from the elections to the legitimate poll bet. In an interview on Thursday, lawyer Lionel Marco Castillano, Comelec-Negros Oriental provincial election supervisor, made the clarification amid complaints and verifications from some quarters on the defeat of incumbent Gov. Roel Degamo in the May 9 elections. Degamo (Nacionalista Party) lost to Bayawan City Mayor Pryde Henry Teves (Nationalist People's Coalition) by 19,546 votes. The incumbent chief executive earned 281,773 votes while the Bayawan mayor earned 301,319 votes, records at the provincial Comelec here showed. Degamo's camp, however, said the incumbent governor is the rightful winner if the votes of a nuisa
VCM TRAINING. Congressional candidate George Arnaiz tries his hand on a vote-counting machine during an orientation held by the Commission on Elections in Negros Oriental on Tuesday (March 23, 2022). The orientation on election laws, rules, and regulations comes three days ahead of the start of the local campaign period on Friday (March 25, 2022). (Photo courtesy of Comelec-Negros Oriental) DUMAGUETE CITY - Local candidates and their political parties in Negros Oriental will be allowed to conduct campaign activities even without securing a permit from the Commission on Elections (Comelec) here, an election official said on Wednesday. This, as candidates are gearing up for the start of the local campaign this week on March 25. Lawyer Lionel Marco Castillano, Comelec-Negros Oriental provincial election supervisor, told the Philippine News Agency that this development came following an amendment issued by the agency on election campaign guidelines. During an orientation for the candidates
Commission on Elections-Negros Oriental provincial election supervisor Lawyer Lionel Marco Castillano. (PNA photo by Judy Flores Partlow) DUMAGUETE CITY - The Commission on Elections (Comelec) in Negros Oriental is now investigating "misleading information" that the poll body is still accepting applications for voter registration for the May 9 elections. Lawyer Lionel Marco Castillano, Comelec-Negros Oriental provincial election supervisor, told the Philippine News Agency on Thursday that his office has received information about fake news circulating on social media and other platforms that somebody is telling or asking people to register for the upcoming polls. "The Comelec condemns this fake news using the agency's name as we have long since ended our registration of voters," Castillano said in mixed English and Cebuano. He cited Republic Act 8189 or the General Registration and Continuing Registration Act which does not allow the registration of voters 120 d