CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – The chief of the legal depart-ment of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said that the fate of the recall petition against Gov. Eddie Panlilio now virtually rests in the hands of Pres. Arroyo.
In a telephone interview with Punto, Ferdinand Rafanan, chief of the legal department of the Comelec central office, said that the recall petition can not be acted upon by en banc because the polls body has only three commissioners, including Chairman Jose Melo.
He said that this impasse could only be resolved should the President appoint enough commissioners, even on interim basis, to form a quorum. The Comelec’s rules of procedure requires at least four out of seven commissioners to constitute a quorum.
“Without a quorum, even the question of where to get funds for a recall elections can not be also tackled,” Rafanan said.
Thus, the recall petition against Panlilio, who had came out with an expose on the alleged “payola” in Malacañang in October last year, is virtually in the hands of the President.
The petition, signed by some 220,000 Pampanga voters, was earlier confirmed as valid in form and substance by provincial Comelec chief Temmie Lambino and Comelec deputy executive director for operations Bartolome Sinocruz. Comelec en banc was supposed to decide on it within 15 days after it received the petition, or up to last Nov. 30.
Rafanan said that apart from Comelec chairman Jose Melo, the polls body has only two other commissioners, namely, Rene Sarmiento and Nicodemo Ferrer.
“The ad interim appointments of Leonardo Leonida, Lucenito Tagle, and Moslemen Macarambon have expired and they have not been reappointed by the President,” he said. The appointment of the three had been bypassed by the Commission on Appointments.
Rafanan said that such lack of forum is also the reason, apart from lack of funds, why the Comelec could not act on the already approved recall petition against Sulu Gov. Abdul Sakur Tan. He noted that several other recall petitions from other parts of the country have remained pending before the Comelec central office.
Rafanan explained that the President could, however, still reappoint Leonida, Tagle and Macarambon on temporary basis before Congress resumes session on Nov. 10, but noted that she has so far not done so. The ad interim appointees can function as commissioners for as long as Congress remains in recess, he said.
But he noted that once Congress resumes session, they can not function even when unless their appointment is first confirmed by the Congress’s Commission on Appointments.
Rafanan said that proponents of the recall petition against Panlilio, which was launched by the Kapanalig at Kambilan de reng Memalen Pampanga (Kambilan), are also running against time.
The law prescribes that no recall election could be held one year before the next regular elections or after May 9 next year in the case of the recall moves now pending before the Comelec.
The Congress’ next adjournment is on Dec. 20, lasting up to Jan. 19 next year. On May 9, the last day allowed by law for recall exercises, Congress would be in recess lasting from June 6 to July 26.
Rafanan also doused proposals for Comelec to seek funds from the special funds of the General Appropriations for a possible recall polls in this province.
The provincial Comelec office estimated that some P24 million would be needed to hold such an election in one day, but the Comelec has only P5 million allocation for such exercise.
Vice Gov. Joseller Guiao, who was among those who signed the petition, said the Comelec is mandated by law to seek funds once it finds meritorious the recall petition against Panlilio. He suggested that the polls body seek funding from the special funds of the General Appropriations.
But Rafanan said that while this could be done, the Comelec would still be obligated to refund the amount it would get from the General Appropriations.
“With only P5 million in its budget for such special polls, the Comelec is not capable of making any such refund,” he said.
He insisted that the holding of recall elections depends on availability of funds.
“Besides, the matter of funding can be tackled only if the Comelec has a quorum which it does not have,” he added.
