
The Commission
on Elections on Saturday
approved the recommendation to implement the
administrative transfer of
10 barangays in Makati
City to Taguig in preparation for the 2023 Barangay
and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections in October.
In a memorandum dated August 19, 2023 released by the Office of
the Comelec Secretary,
the poll body approved
the recommendation of its
law department to prepare
the barangay transfers for
the upcoming elections
“following the instructions
of Comelec Chairman
George Garcia and in
view of the finality of the
Supreme Court decision”
which ended the 29-year
old land row between the
local government units
and which ruled in favor of
Taguig.
Detailing also its
readiness to comply with
the SC ruling, the memorandum took heed of the
letter sent by City of Taguig Mayor Lani Cayetano
which formally informed
the Comelec that national
agencies have started to
transfer the administrative
jurisdiction of their regional offices from the City of
Makati to the City of Taguig insofar as the ten barangays are concerned.
“ A c c o r d i n g l y,
and strictly pursuant to
the Decision of the Supreme Court…, it is this
Department’s opinion that
the barangays situated in
Parcels 3 and 4, Psu-2031
can now be considered as
part of Taguig City for purposes of the 2023 Barangays and SK Elections,”
the memorandum said.
“Resolved further, to approve recommendatory actions on the
Commission’s preparation
for the implementation of
the administrative transfer
of the ten (10) barangays
in Makati City to Taguig
City,” it added.
Apart from specific directives to at least
10 departments to assist
in the technical and administrative handover from
Makati to Taguig, what
stood out in the memorandum are the crucial
roles of the Office of the
Election Officer (OEO) for
the smooth and peaceful
transfer of records of voters and electoral precincts
in the two LGUs.
Among the directives it gave the 2nd District Office of the Election
Officer (OEO) of Makati
City are the preparation
of new Project of Precinct
(POP) for the remaining
barangay, new list of qualified Electoral Boards, and
new Printed Computerized
Voters List (PCVL) and
Election Day Computerized Voters List (EDCVL).
The City of Taguig’s OEO is likewise tasked
with extensive preparation
of two new POP to include
the 10 barangays, constitution of EBs for the clustered precincts in the ten
barangays, and to notify
the affected voters of the
changes in the records
and other such pertinent
information.
Taguig’s OEO
is also recommended to
coordinate with the Philippine National Police,
Department of Education,
Department of Interior and
Local Government, and
other government agencies for the security preparations and implementation of the transfer. PR