Comelec-Pampanga Validates Recall Petition Vs.Among Ed

SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga – The provincial office of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) here confirmed that the recall petition against Gov. Eddie Panlilio – “Among Ed” to his supporters – is valid in “form and substance” and endorsed it yesterday to the poll body’s central office which will decide on whether to hold a special election or not.

Provincial Comelec supervisor Temmie Lambino declined to comment on his recommendation on the recall petition, but sources from the poll body’s regional office said his recommendation “clearly indicated” his confirmation of the validity of the petition’s form and substance, as required by law.

“Otherwise, the petition would stop right at the provincial level,” one of the sources said.

Lambino, however, told The STAR that he preferred that the announcement on the petition’s form and substance be made by the Comelec, which still has to further scrutinize his recommendation.

This, even as Lambino clarified that a special gubernatorial election that could arise from the recall petition would cost P24 million if held in just one day, P37 million in two days, and P52 million in three days.

“I think (Comelec Chairman Jose Melo) was thinking of two days when he cited the P40-million cost of the special election for governor in Pampanga,” he said.

In a visit to Pampanga last week, Melo said his agency did not have P40 million to finance such a special election, but added local governments in Pampanga could pitch in for the needed funds.

Board funding

Apparently taking a cue from Melo’s statement, the provincial board has begun moves to allocate P25 million for the exercise. Panlilio though said he would veto this, adding there are more pressing concerns that need funding.

Vice Gov. Joseller “Yeng” Guiao, who presides over the board, said they would override Panlilio’s veto of their funding resolution which was already approved on first reading last Monday.

“It is not right for us to be half-hearted in our support. The support has to be all the way,” he said.

“It (P25-million fund) will be worth the investment based on the clamor of the 224,000 Pampanga folk who signed the recall petition,” he said, adding that the board has not been remiss in approving funds for Panlilio’s projects that were “justified.”

But election lawyer Romulo Macalintal, one of Panlilio’s legal counsels, said the board’s move would be “illegal,” as it would violate Section 305 of the Local Government Code that provides that public funds be spent solely for public purpose and payment of goods and services.

“For sure, recall is not for a public purpose but a partisan political act which is disruptive of public service,” he said.

Macalintal bewailed that the board “cannot raise funds to construct roads, schools and other public facilities but can easily raise P25 million for their own political interests.”

Recall poll timetable

Lambino said the recall petition’s timetable could be affected if Panlilio files a protest before the Comelec, explaining that the law allows recall polls to be held only up to May 9 next year, or one year before the next elections.

Lambino said his recommendation on the recall petition was submitted yesterday to Comelec deputy executive director for operations Bartolome Sinocruz Jr.

He said his action concerned only the form and substance of the petition, as the authenticity of the 224,000 signatures will be validated only after the Comelec confirms his recommendation.

He said Sinocruz has three days to study his recommendation before forwarding it to the Comelec en banc, which will then either confirm or reject the recommendation within 15 days from the filing of the petition last Oct. 15.

Lambino said form and substance refers to the petition’s compliance with the legal requirement for 10 percent of signatures of registered voters in the province.

It also refers to documentary requirements such as a certification from the National Statistics Office on the province’s voting population, a certification from the Department of the Interior and Local Government on when Panlilio took over as governor, and a certification on the P50,000 filing fee paid to the Comelec provincial office.

Loss of confidence

The Kapanalig at Kambilan neng Memalen Pampanga (Kambilan), headed by Rosve Henson, initiated the recall move against Panlilio, citing loss of confidence in his leadership.

The Kambilan submitted the petition to Lambino last Thursday with 224,000 signatures or more than 10 percent of the province’s nearly one million voters.

Should the Comelec affirm the validity of the petition’s form and substance, Lambino said he has 12 days within which to validate each of the 224,000 signatures with the help of municipal and city election officers.

He said additional personnel could be hired for the task. Once the signatures are authenticated, the Comelec would then schedule the special gubernatorial election, he said.

“Gov. Panlilio is automatically a candidate in the recall election and he cannot resign. Otherwise, he could be charged with abandonment of office,” he said.

‘Orchestrated’
In an interview, Panlilio said he would “do all I can” to block moves to oust him from his post.

He said he would file before the Comelec objections to the petition, citing alleged anomalies in the conduct of the signature drive as local government officials “orchestrated” the effort using government vehicles and other resources.

Macalintal insisted that the recall petition against Panlilio is “fatally defective” in form and substance.

He said, “All signatures sheets of those allegedly supporting the recall do not contain a brief narration of the reasons and justifications for the filing of the petition.”

He said this violated Section 8(d) of Comelec Resolution No. 7505 or the Rules for Recall dated June 6, 2005.

Macalintal said the petition “merely cited loss of confidence which does not comply with the strict requirement of the rules.”

“The procedure for recall election should be strictly followed. Thus, a mere statement of loss of confidence is not sufficient, as it cannot be considered as a brief narration of the reasons and justifications of recall as required by the rules,” he said.

Guiao plans to run

Meanwhile, Guiao said he finds nothing illegal or immoral with his plan to run in the special poll despite the move of the provincial board, of which he is the presiding officer, to fund it.

So far, only Guiao has publicly admitted plans to seek the governorship.

“There are already informal discussions among political leaders and civil society groups on who could be fielded as candidate against Panlilio,” he said, but declined to give details.

He, however, said he will run only if all of Panlilio’s critics would support his candidacy