The Eastern Samar Community Blog

City of Borongan – Photocopied ballots were used in some precincts in the City of Borongan during the Barangay and SK Elections last October 29, 2007 due to the lack of original ballots for the exercise.

The decision to use photocopied ballots was made by Election Officer Atty. Reymund Gunda upon consultation with Comelec Central Office.

The ballots delivered to the City of Borongan lacked 2,600 sheets.

However, a total of 3,000 ballots with the print “Calbayog City” came together with the ballots for Borongan. But Atty. Gunda discouraged the use of these ballots after calling the central office because problems might arise in relation to it.

“Mamasayon na la kunta nga paraon an print nga “Calbayog City” ngan balyuan hin City of Borongan kontra nga diri lugod mahigagamitan ini nga mga balota,” said one employee of the Treasurer’s Office.

Instead they tried to complete the lacking number of ballots in various precincts by going around the nearby precincts and getting extra ballots from these polling centers. Employees of the Treasurer’s Office tried to collect from precincts as far as six and eight kilometers away from the poblacion just to gather enough ballots for precincts which needed additional ballots.

At around noontime when it was clear that not enough extra ballots could be collected in the various precincts, it was decided to photocopy official ballots.

One ballot from a precinct for Brgy. A located at Eugenio S. Daza Pilot Elementary School was borrowed by Atty. Gunda and some employees of the City Treasurer’s Office. The ballot which they photocopied had a serial number of 0023200. They returned the ballot after photocopying it.

The photocopied ballots were then cut and renumbered at the Office of the City Treasurer and then distributed to precincts with the lacking ballots particularly in Barangay Campesao and Brgy. C.

It was already in the evening of October 28 that the lack of official ballots was discovered by the employees of the City Treasurer’s Office. When the boxes for the ballots arrived that afternoon and upon seeing that it had the right address, they did not bother inspect the contents anymore.

“Waray gad kami paghuhunahuna nga hinunugad kay tikang han tikang waray pa man sugad hini nga nahinabo,” said another employee.

Luckily no case of cheating or padding was reported hence the use of the photocopied ballots did not matter so much to candidates.