CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) here debunked yesterday allegations that local ballot boxes were tampered with before they were transported to its central office for recount of votes cast for governor in the last polls.
Comelec provincial supervisor Temmie Lambino said that while some of the ballot boxes were indeed not padlocked, all election returns in them remained in sealed envelopes when they were moved to Manila last Aug. 11.
“The ballot boxes were in the same condition as when they were turned over to local government treasurer’s offices after the 2007 elections. I don’t think that the integrity of the accountable documents was affected,” he said.
A total of 4,688 ballot boxes from 19 towns and one city in Pampanga were moved to the Comelec in Manila. Ballot boxes from Magalang had earlier been transported to Manila in relation to a mayoral dispute in the town.
The newly formed Kapampangan Kontra sa Recount (KKR) which supports Gov. Eddie Panlilio has issued a statement saying the ballot boxes had been tampered with before they reached the Comelec in Manila for the recount. The recount was petitioned by former provincial board member Lilia Pineda who lost to Panlilio in the 2007 gubernatorial race by 1,147 votes.
“Not all of the ballot boxes have metallic seals or padlocks or both. Not all of these were properly secured prior to their delivery to a warehouse of the Comelec in Manila,” the KKR statement said. The group took photos of ballot boxes which were merely secured by masking tape, as it insisted that they should have been padlocked.
Lambino explained, however, that the integrity of the ballots was not hinged on the padlocks but on the sealed envelopes containing the election returns. He said that the seals were put in place by the local boards of election inspectors (BEI) before they were put in the ballot boxes for turn over to their respective treasurer’s offices. “There were witnesses from the various political camps during such turn over, “he noted.
But he also cited a previous electoral case in Ilocos Sur in which the Supreme Court decided that lack of seal on containers of election returns and even lack of signatures in the returns would not be sufficient grounds for dismissing a petition against recount of votes.
This, even as the Archdiocesan Council of the Laity held yesterday a march in Betis, Guagua, where Panlilio used to be parish priest, against the vote recount. The march was followed by a Mass at the Santiago de Apostol Church.
On Monday, some 50 pastors of the Pampanga Christian Ministers Council will hold a press conference in San Fernando to insist on the “integrity” of the 2007 gubernatorial elections in Pampanga.
At the same time, Lambino clarified that ballot boxes spared from fire in Mabalacat were among those included in the recount process in Manila. “About 41 percent of the ballots were burned after the elections in 2007, so there’s no way they can be counted anymore,” he noted.
A total of 779,100 out of 1,128,411 registered voters cast their votes in Pampanga in the 2007 elections. Panlilio garnered 219,706 votes with a margin of 1,147 votes over Pineda’s 218,559 votes.
Comelec provincial supervisor Temmie Lambino said that while some of the ballot boxes were indeed not padlocked, all election returns in them remained in sealed envelopes when they were moved to Manila last Aug. 11.
“The ballot boxes were in the same condition as when they were turned over to local government treasurer’s offices after the 2007 elections. I don’t think that the integrity of the accountable documents was affected,” he said.
A total of 4,688 ballot boxes from 19 towns and one city in Pampanga were moved to the Comelec in Manila. Ballot boxes from Magalang had earlier been transported to Manila in relation to a mayoral dispute in the town.
The newly formed Kapampangan Kontra sa Recount (KKR) which supports Gov. Eddie Panlilio has issued a statement saying the ballot boxes had been tampered with before they reached the Comelec in Manila for the recount. The recount was petitioned by former provincial board member Lilia Pineda who lost to Panlilio in the 2007 gubernatorial race by 1,147 votes.
“Not all of the ballot boxes have metallic seals or padlocks or both. Not all of these were properly secured prior to their delivery to a warehouse of the Comelec in Manila,” the KKR statement said. The group took photos of ballot boxes which were merely secured by masking tape, as it insisted that they should have been padlocked.
Lambino explained, however, that the integrity of the ballots was not hinged on the padlocks but on the sealed envelopes containing the election returns. He said that the seals were put in place by the local boards of election inspectors (BEI) before they were put in the ballot boxes for turn over to their respective treasurer’s offices. “There were witnesses from the various political camps during such turn over, “he noted.
But he also cited a previous electoral case in Ilocos Sur in which the Supreme Court decided that lack of seal on containers of election returns and even lack of signatures in the returns would not be sufficient grounds for dismissing a petition against recount of votes.
This, even as the Archdiocesan Council of the Laity held yesterday a march in Betis, Guagua, where Panlilio used to be parish priest, against the vote recount. The march was followed by a Mass at the Santiago de Apostol Church.
On Monday, some 50 pastors of the Pampanga Christian Ministers Council will hold a press conference in San Fernando to insist on the “integrity” of the 2007 gubernatorial elections in Pampanga.
At the same time, Lambino clarified that ballot boxes spared from fire in Mabalacat were among those included in the recount process in Manila. “About 41 percent of the ballots were burned after the elections in 2007, so there’s no way they can be counted anymore,” he noted.
A total of 779,100 out of 1,128,411 registered voters cast their votes in Pampanga in the 2007 elections. Panlilio garnered 219,706 votes with a margin of 1,147 votes over Pineda’s 218,559 votes.
