Poll watchdog Legal Network for Truthful Elections (Lente) expressed its support on Saturday, Oct. 29 to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) efforts to assert its independence by having its own office space, making a renewed call to push for the Comelec Integrity Bill.

In a statement, Lente said that it welcomes and supports Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia's advocacy for the poll body to have its own office space. The poll watchdog mentioned that it has seen firsthand how the lack of space for Comelec to call its home has hampered its operations, and more importantly, its independence.

With this, Lente is also advocating for its field office to have its own office space and to hire its own personnel. According to the group, Section 55 of the Omnibus Election Code, local government units (LGUs) provide the office space for the offices of municipal election officers, city election officers, and provincial election supervisors.

Lente stated that clearly, the independence of COMELEC is affected by this existing legal framework. "Since the 17th up to the 18th Congress, Lente has been actively pushing for the Comelec Integrity Bill, a measure that seeks to strengthen the field offices of the poll body by providing their own suitable office spaces and adding more election assistants thereto," Lente said in a statement.

The poll watchdog explained that the purpose of the bill is to give meaning to the constitutional guarantee of independence.

Salient provisions of the bill include:

• the construction of the independent municipal, city, and provincial COMELEC field offices,
• the automatic creation of positions of election officers and election assistants in a new city, municipality, or provincial electoral district,
• the transfer of all COMELEC Field Offices from LGUs to their independent offices within a period of five years from effectivity,
• the increase in election assistants based on the number of registered voters, and
• the prohibition of transferring LGU personnel to local COMELEC offices aside from the Provincial Election Officer Supervisor, Election Officer, and Election Assistants.

Lente explained that during the 18th Congress, the bill was able to hurdle the Committee on Appropriations and eventually passed into third reading on Aug. 24, 2021. The appropriations provision was consulted with the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and was validated through their issuance of a position paper.

In the position paper issued out by the DBM, it states that the amount needed for the funding requirement may be sourced from the Total Continuing Appropriations of the Comelec. In the Senate, the bill underwent two committee hearings and directed the poll body to devise the five-year transfer plan.

At present, the 19th Congress legislators who filed the bill are Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, Rep. Johnny Pimentel, Rep. Juliet Marie Ferrer, Rep. Marlyn L. Primicias-Agabas, Rep. Eric Go Yap, Sen. Imee Marcos, and Sen. Joel Villanueva. Notably, Sen. Imee Marcos adopted the bill and even included the same in Senate Bill No. 2521 or the New Omnibus Election Code.

"In upholding the integrity of our Philippine elections, Lente reiterates its calls for Comelec National to include in their lobbying and advocacy campaign the similar needs of our Comelec field offices to ensure its independence," Lente said in a statement.

"Lente calls on our legislators in the Senate and the House of Representatives to establish a robust and independent Comelec and to recognize the LGU’s stake in election administration who lamentably acts as a sword of Damocles, and subjects the local Comelec to the imminent and ever-present peril of lack of office space, manpower complement and funding for its operations," it added.