A CANDIDATE’S DIARY, DAY 15: GREEN MULTICAB STIRS CONTROVERSY

The ubiquitous green multi-cab, the 4-wheel light passenger carrier which has become the centerpiece project of the incumbent Governor of North Cotabato, has become the center of a legal issue after at least 20 of these were used in a political caravan in the town of M’lang last week.

Last Saturday, the 15th day of the campaign, lawyers representing the group of M’lang Mayor Joselito Pinol and Vice Mayor Russel Abonado started preparing the documents and affidavits to be submitted to the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) seeking legal redress on the apparent violation of the Omnibus Election Act.

Lawyers said that COMELEC Resolution No. 9615 is very explicit in prohibiting the use of government vehicles with red plates in political campaigning and propaganda.

Witnesses have already submitted affidavits attesting to the use of the green multi-cabs in the political caravan of several motor vehicles, including private vehicles which bore the posters of political candidates.

“I believe the use of these government vehicles in a political partisan activity is prohibited by law,” said Mayor Lito Pinol who is running for his last and final term.

At least 20 multi-cab units were given to different barangays in the town of M’lang as part of the vehicle distribution program of the incumbent Governor.

The green multi-cabs, about 300 units of which were bought by the provincial government, were earlier the subject of controversy following the discovery that the procurement price was P220,000 per unit, obviously higher than the current market price of these vehicles.

Barangay residents also complained that the green multi-cabs do not provide answers to their most basic problems which include the inability of their children to go to college.

The vehicle has also fueled rifts among barangay officials who complained that the barangay chairmen who use the multi-cabs have depleted the barangay funds because of the fuel requirement of the vehicle.

This time, the multi-cab may not only prove to be a headache to the barangays using them but also to the political candidates who benefited from the political caravan held last week.