Vote recount starts over Pampanga gov post tiff

SAN FERNADO CITY, Pampanga -- The Commission on Elections starts Friday recount of the contested votes in the Pampanga gubernatorial race in connection with the electoral protest filed by former provincial board member Lilia Pineda against Gov. Ed Panlilio.

Comelec Commissioner Nicodemo Ferrer said 21 revision committees have been created to ensure that the electoral protest is resolved in one and a half months.

“We want to speed up the revision so we organized 21 revision committees. The two parties will have their own representatives in the committees,” he said.

Each committee wasassigned to review votes coming from 20 towns and one city of Pampanga (San Fernando).

The votes are contained in over 4,800 ballot boxes delivered Tuesday to the Comelec main office in Intramuros, Manila.

In a forum organized by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, Panlilio reiterated his allegation that the contested ballots contained in the ballot boxes have already been manipulated.

“We will file a petition with the Comelec. These ballot boxes have been tampered… so their integrity is now in question,” he said.

Panlilio warned that should the Comelec declare Pineda winner in the recount, it would set a bad precedent in Philippine politics – that those who commit electoral fraud dominate the elections.

“What will happen is that when a poor candidate wins, he will be ganged up by those who have the money. All they have to do is question the results of the election, harassing the poor candidate,” he said.

Pineda, an ally of President Arroyo, lost to Panlilio by only 1,147 votes in the 2007 mid-term polls.
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 subsequently filed a motion for reconsideration, which the SC junked last July 28, paving the way for the transport of the ballot boxes.

The SC ruled that the Comelec did not commit any grave abuse of discretion when it ordered the recount, as it has the authority to do so.

Last Aug. 4, the Comelec directed Panlilio to submit the names of one supervising, 21 regular, and 21 alternate revisors for the 21 revision committees, as well as assign two watchers per shift on a 24-hour basis. Pineda was also directed to do so.

But Panlilio, in a motion, said he lacks the “financial capability and resources” to comply with the recount requirements. -- DC