MANILA - The Commission on Elections on Tuesday said it is implementing the anti-dynasty provision in the Sangguniang Kabataan elections for the first time in the upcoming polls.
In 2016, then-President Benigno Aquino III signed into law the Sangguniang Kabataan Reform Act of 2015 that includes an anti-dynasty provision.
"They (SK candidates) will file their certificates of candidacy, and there is a declaration that they are not related up to the second civil degree to any incumbent, elected government official," Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez told ANC's Headstart.
"It's a declaration under oath so if they're found out they can be disqualified and they'll have problems with the fact that they lied under oath," Jimenez said.
The Comelec will also be on the lookout for "violence" and "vote buying" during the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections which will be done through manual voting, Jimenez said.
"The teachers will be doing the counting again which means that a lot of the pressure will be focused on them. That's where the violence might happen," he said.
"Some teachers might be subjected to pressure to read a certain way or to tally a certain way," he added.
Jimenez said Comelec officials and poll watchers will also police offenders who try to exert "undue influence" over voters.
"We're looking out for people watching or whispering through windows. In some cases, you'll see folded pieces of paper money flying through the air, flicked to people who are sitting, writing down in their ballots," he said.
Comelec, James Jimenez, ANC, ANC Exclusives, ANC Headstart, barangay polls, SK polls