Comelec chairperson George Erwin Garcia (File photo)

MANILA – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is now probing an election officer in Masbate who allegedly failed to follow an order involving a candidate in the recent Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE).

In a message, Comelec chairperson George Erwin Garcia told reporters Thursday that the poll body’s law department recommended the investigation on Aroroy, Masbate Election Officer Magdie Moran for reportedly failing to remove the name of a disqualified bet from the certified list of candidates for the Oct. 30 polls.

Based on an excerpt from the minutes of the Comelec’s executive session, Moran was directed on Oct. 25 to cancel the certificate of candidacy (COC) of Aniano Pancho Capinig, who was running for chairperson of Aroroy town’s Barangay Cabas-an.

The Comelec’s Second Division, in a resolution dated Oct. 9, disqualified Capinig after he was convicted of violating Section 31 of Republic Act 10591 (illegal possession of firearms).

Capinig got the most number of votes in the BSKE but the Comelec declared them as “stray votes.”

The poll body said the candidate who garnered the second highest number of votes will be declared as the Barangay Captain of Cabas-an.

It noted that COC of Capinig was administratively canceled and that his name should have been deleted or removed from the official list of candidates.

The Comelec added that Moran failed to implement its order “despite having enough time to delete/remove/cancel his name in the certified List of candidates.”

Garcia, meanwhile, said the election officer may be dismissed from the service if found guilty.

“Removal from office due to gross insubordination,” he added.

The Comelec is also looking at other cases of non-implementation of the poll body’s rulings by field officers.