Election officers and their assistants in Oriental Negros who were reshuffled before the May 14 polls will return to their original assignments soon, acting provincial election supervisor Eddie Aba said.

Aba said employees of the Commission on Elections had served during the mid-term polls, and will now resume other functions. Earlier, majority of the EO's and EA's in the towns and cities of the province had to be transferred by provincial election supervisor Manuel Advincula, to erase doubts of partisanship in their respective assignments.

Advincula said that these employees had served a certain length of time in their original positions and were already familiar with local politicians and candidates. Others also had relatives running for elective positions in the same town or city they were assigned to, he added.

Aba lauded the EOs and EAs for a "job well done" despite minor problems that besieged them at the height of the polling, counting, and canvassing of ballots.

Meanwhile, Aba said he remains as provincial supervisor in an acting capacity while Advincula is still on official leave.

Advincula filed a 120-day leave of absence from work shortly before the May 14 polls, after he was arrested by agents of the National Bureau of Investigation from Central Visayas for allegedly extorting money from Edgar Teves, a congressional candidate in the third district.

Of the three cases that had been filed against Advincula, two were dismissed while the third one required Advincula to post bail of P10,000.

Teves lost the contest to a relative, incumbent Board Member Henry Pryde Teves. *JG

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