Nais ng Commission on Elections (Comelec) na ma-disbar ang isang local candidate na nanampal ng isang election officer sa Camiling, Tarlac, kamakailan.

"The candidate who slapped our Comelec EO is Marty Toralba who claims to be a lawyer. We will have him disbarred," ang bahagi ng pahayag ni Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon sa kanyang Twitter account.

"@Comelec @dirfrancesarabe if that Toralba who slapped our EO of Camiling, Tarlac is a lawyer, file disbarment complaint against him," pag-uudyok ni Guanzon.

Kaugnay nito, agad namang kinondena ng Comelec Employees’ Union (COMELEC-EU) ang insidente na ang naging biktima ay isa sa kanilang miyembro na si EO Teddy Mariano, 59, na anila’y ipinatutupad lamang nito ang kanyang tungkulin nang maganap ang pananampal.

"We call on the COMELEC to make sure that candidate Toralba be made accountable for this barefaced act of aggression against an election worker who is merely doing his duty of enforcing campaign rules in his jurisdiction," pahayag ng grupo.

Sa impormasyon ng Comelec-EU, ang insidente ay naganap habang nagsasagawa ng “Operation Baklas” ang grupo ni Toralba laban sa mga illegal campaign poster ng mga kandidato kung saan namataan din si Toralba sa lugar, nitong Sabado.

Si Toralba ay kumakandidato sa pagka-Board Member sa nasabing lugar.

“The COMELEC-EU salutes and commends EO Mariano and all election employees in the field for standing their ground and for staying true to their mandate of ensuring a level playing field in the upcoming elections even in the face of threats of violence, intimidation and backlash from erring candidates and their rabid supporters," pahayag pa ng grupo.

-Leslie Ann G. Aquino