comelec resolution no. 7859 - Philippine Center for Investigative ...

Under no circumstance shall barangay officials including barangay tanods be
appointed as watchers.
The watchers shall have the right to:
a) Be present at, and take note of, all the proceedings of the Board;
b) Stay behind the Chairman of the Board, near enough to be able to
read the election returns/certificates of canvass without touching
them; and
c) File a protest against any irregularity noted in the election returns/
certificate of canvass and get from the Board a resolution thereon
in writing.
Watchers shall not be allowed to participate in the deliberations of the Board.
SEC. 20. Persons not allowed inside the canvassing room. – During the
canvassing, it shall be unlawful for any of the following to enter the room where the
canvass is being held or to stay within a radius of fifty (50) meters from such room:
a) Any officer or member of the Armed Forces of the Philippines;
b) Any officer or member of the Philippine National Police;
c) Any peace officer or any armed or unarmed person belonging to an
extra-legal police agency, special forces, strike forces, or civilian
armed forces geographical units (CAFGU);
d) Any barangay tanod or any member of the barangay self defense
units;
e) Any member of the security or police organizations of government
agencies, commissions, councils, bureaus, offices,
instrumentalities, or government-owned or controlled corporations
or their subsidiaries; or
f) Any member of a privately-owned or operated security,
investigative, protective or intelligence agency performing identical
or similar functions.
6