Pampanga vote recount on Panlilio poll case totake 1-2 months - Melo

SAN FERNANDO CITY, Pampanga -- The Commission on Elections said Thursday it would work hard to resolve the electoral protest filed against Pampanga Gov. Ed Panlilio by former provincial board member Lilia Pineda in one to two months.

Comelec Chairman Jose Melo told newsmen revision teams have been created for the recount of the ballots from Pampanga’s 20 towns and one city (San Fernando).

“The revision must be finished within one to two months. We want this finished soon,” he said.

The Comelec had given its Pampanga office five days to transfer 4,688 ballot boxes to its central office in Intramuros, Manila for the revision, as petitioned by Pineda.

Comelec provincial supervisor Temmie Lambino told that four 10-wheeler trucks provided by Pineda retrieved the ballot boxes yesterday August 6 and deposited them at the provincial police headquarters in the City of San Fernando.

“At least 31 policemen in four patrol cars will escort the ballot boxes from the police headquarters to the Comelec central office (today),” he said.

Lambino said ballot boxes from Magalang town were earlier transported to the Comelec due to a pending mayoral electoral protest, while those from Mabalacat town would remain under local police custody in connection with a pending case arising from the burning of ballot boxes there after the 2007 elections.

Pineda, an ally of President Arroyo, lost to Panlilio by a mere 1,147 votes in the 2007 gubernatorial race. Claiming that she was only cheated of victory, she filed the electoral protest.
Last July 17, the Supreme Court (SC) issued a resolution lifting the temporary restraining order against the recount, which the Comelec’s Second Division ordered last year.

Panlilio filed a motion for reconsideration, but the SC junked this on July 28, paving the way for the transport of the ballot boxes.

The SC ruled that there was no grave abuse of discretion on the part of the Comelec when it ordered the recount, primarily because it has the authority to do so.

Comelec Commissioner Nicodemo Ferrer, who chairs the Second Division, said the agency has issued “house rules” to ensure an organized and speedy recount of the ballots. He said opposing parties have to nominate their representatives in the revision committee.

Earlier, Panlilio’s lawyer Romulo Macalintal said the Comelec should admit that it has no more time to resolve Pineda’s electoral protest before the 2010 polls “instead of giving the parties concerned and the people false hopes.”