CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – With the recall move against Gov. Eddie Panlilio now “dead”, the pending electoral protest filed against him by his political rival seems to be also heading to the graveyard.
The Supreme Court has yet to decide on whether to allow the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to hold a recount of votes cast for governor in the 2007 polls, but Panlilio’s lawyer Romulo Macalintal said that even if the High Court decides favorably, “the body would not have time to resolve it”.
In a text message to Punto, Macalintal said that “even if the Supreme Court refers it (electoral protest) to the Comelec, the body would not have time to resolve it”.
In July last year, the Comelec’s second division granted the petition of former provincial board member Lilia Pineda, the candidate of the administration Kabalikat ng Mamamayang Pilipino (Kampi) party who lost to Panlilio by 1,147 votes, to hold a recount of votes cast for governor in all 4,836 precincts in this province. The Comelec division also barred Panlilio from appealing to the Comelec en banc, prompting him to appeal instead to the Supreme Court.
Pineda, whose son Lubao Mayor Dennis Pineda is the president of the Pampanga Mayors’ League, had claimed she was cheated in the gubernatorial polls.
Last February, the Supreme Court ordered a status quo that prevented the ballots from Pampanga from being transported to the poll body’s central office for a recount, pending its final verdict on the validity of the Comelec division’s resolution.
“Time is not on the side of the protest which will eventually die a natural death like the recall move against Panlilio,” said Macalintal who, from the day the recall move was initiated in October last year, had said that the recall petition would not prosper arising from lack of funds in the Comelec.
Macalintal estimated that the Comelec would need two months to collect all the ballot boxes from Pampanga’s 20 towns and one city.
“Revision and recount of votes would take another five months, while presentation of evidences would require yet another three months,” he said.
Macalintal estimated that the Comelec division to handle the case would probably consume six months of deliberations before it casts judgment on the case. “Whoever loses in the Comelec division level will surely appeal to the Comelec en banc, and then finally to the Supreme Court.”
Last November, the Comelec en banc issued Resolution No. 8547 which suspended all actions on recall petitions against elected local officials, including the recall petition signed by some 220,000 Pampanga folk against Panlilio.
The petition was initiated last October by the Kapanalig at Kambilan ning Memalen Pampanga (Kambilan) whose leaders admitted having campaigned for Pineda in the last gubernatorial race.
The Comelec resolution prompted Macalintal to declare the recall petition as “dead”.
Comelec legal department chief Ferdinand Rafanan said he also did not expect the recall move to take off despite being submitted to the Comelec en banc.
He echoed Macalintal’s view that lack of funds and time constraints would prevent the recall move from leading to special gubernatorial elections in this province.
The Supreme Court has yet to decide on whether to allow the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to hold a recount of votes cast for governor in the 2007 polls, but Panlilio’s lawyer Romulo Macalintal said that even if the High Court decides favorably, “the body would not have time to resolve it”.
In a text message to Punto, Macalintal said that “even if the Supreme Court refers it (electoral protest) to the Comelec, the body would not have time to resolve it”.
In July last year, the Comelec’s second division granted the petition of former provincial board member Lilia Pineda, the candidate of the administration Kabalikat ng Mamamayang Pilipino (Kampi) party who lost to Panlilio by 1,147 votes, to hold a recount of votes cast for governor in all 4,836 precincts in this province. The Comelec division also barred Panlilio from appealing to the Comelec en banc, prompting him to appeal instead to the Supreme Court.
Pineda, whose son Lubao Mayor Dennis Pineda is the president of the Pampanga Mayors’ League, had claimed she was cheated in the gubernatorial polls.
Last February, the Supreme Court ordered a status quo that prevented the ballots from Pampanga from being transported to the poll body’s central office for a recount, pending its final verdict on the validity of the Comelec division’s resolution.
“Time is not on the side of the protest which will eventually die a natural death like the recall move against Panlilio,” said Macalintal who, from the day the recall move was initiated in October last year, had said that the recall petition would not prosper arising from lack of funds in the Comelec.
Macalintal estimated that the Comelec would need two months to collect all the ballot boxes from Pampanga’s 20 towns and one city.
“Revision and recount of votes would take another five months, while presentation of evidences would require yet another three months,” he said.
Macalintal estimated that the Comelec division to handle the case would probably consume six months of deliberations before it casts judgment on the case. “Whoever loses in the Comelec division level will surely appeal to the Comelec en banc, and then finally to the Supreme Court.”
Last November, the Comelec en banc issued Resolution No. 8547 which suspended all actions on recall petitions against elected local officials, including the recall petition signed by some 220,000 Pampanga folk against Panlilio.
The petition was initiated last October by the Kapanalig at Kambilan ning Memalen Pampanga (Kambilan) whose leaders admitted having campaigned for Pineda in the last gubernatorial race.
The Comelec resolution prompted Macalintal to declare the recall petition as “dead”.
Comelec legal department chief Ferdinand Rafanan said he also did not expect the recall move to take off despite being submitted to the Comelec en banc.
He echoed Macalintal’s view that lack of funds and time constraints would prevent the recall move from leading to special gubernatorial elections in this province.
