COMELEC UNSEATS PANLILIO;
RECOUNT SHOWED HE LOST 2007 POLLS
[PHOTO
AT LEFT -
Pampanga Gov. Eduardo Panlilio]
MANILA, FEBRUARY 13, 2010 (STAR) The Second Division of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) ordered yesterday Pampanga Gov. Eduardo Panlilio, one of the governors critical of the Arroyo administration, to step down after a recount allegedly showed that he lost in the 2007 elections.
In a resolution more than 11,000 pages long, Second Division Commissioners Nicodemo Ferrer, Elias Yusoph and Lucenito Tagle declared former Pampanga board member Lilia Pineda as the duly elected governor of the province.
Last year the Second Division had unseated Isabela Gov. Grace Padaca, who was also a critic of President Arroyo, and Bulacan Gov. Joselito Mendoza, who left the administration-backed Lakas-Kampi-CMD and transferred to the Liberal Party (LP).
Panlilio is seeking reelection as the official candidate of the LP in the May polls while Pineda is running anew for governor as candidate of the administration Lakas-Kampi-CMD party.
Pineda is the wife of Rodolfo Pineda, who was tagged as a gambling lord during the Senate trial on the plunder charges against former President Joseph Estrada. The Pinedas’ bailiwick is Lubao, in the district where President Arroyo is running for a congressional seat.
The latest resolution showed that after revising the votes from Pampanga, the Second Division found that Pineda garnered 190,729 votes against the 188,718 votes of Panlilio. This represents a margin of 2,011.
“We find sufficient merits in this election protest case. The division hereby resolves that the protestant Pineda is the duly elected governor of the province of Pampanga after review and examination of the contested ballots in this election protest,” the resolution states.
The Comelec directed Panlilio to step down and turn over the post to Pineda.
Tagle had issued a concurring opinion, which also finds Pineda as winner in the gubernatorial race but her vote margin is much slimmer at 356.
Panlilio was proclaimed Pampanga governor in 2007 after winning by 1,147 votes. Pineda contested the results, claiming that the former priest turned politician cheated her.
The Second Division ordered a revision of the votes from Pampanga’s 20 towns and one city.
Panlilio, who attended the promulgation at the Comelec, said his camp had been expecting an unfavorable decision from the Second Division.
“Since October last year (when the revision was still going on) all of our motions and requests have not been granted. This pattern has been leading us to think that we will not get a fair treatment of this case,” Panlilio said.
Panlilio’s lawyer Sixto Brillantes said he would file a motion for reconsideration with the Comelec to seek a reversal of the decision.
Harvey Keh, convenor of civic group Kaya Natin for Good Governance and Ethical Leadership, said they were extremely disappointed and appalled by the decision although they were expecting it.
Keh maintained that Pineda is a close ally of Mrs. Arroyo while Panlilio had been critical of the government, so they expected the Comelec not to side with him.
Pineda’s lawyer George Garcia said that he knew his client won because of the manner the Board of Election Inspectors had appreciated the ballots.
Garcia claimed that ballots containing votes cast for “Nanay Baby” were not credited to Pineda although such nickname is registered with the Comelec as his client’s nickname.
He added that if he could read the whole resolution overnight, he would file a motion for writ of execution today.
Pineda hailed the decision of the Comelec Second Division declaring her the rightful governor of Pampanga.
“I am very happy with the decision of the Comelec. This is the victory of the people of Pampanga who have been seeking the truth on who won in the last elections,” said Pineda.
Comelec says decision not yet executory
Ferrer said the decision is not yet executory since the camp of Panlilio was given five days from yesterday within which to submit a petition for reconsideration.
Panlilio’s chief of staff Armando Vitug called on their supporters to hold a prayer vigil at the provincial capitol in San Fernando, Pampanga. The capitol employees were told to wear black during the vigil.
The atmosphere in the capitol remained calm as news spread about the Comelec verdict at about 3:30 p.m. yesterday.
Ferrer said that the Comelec’s decision could also be appealed before the Supreme Court.
Members of the Pampanga Mayors’ League (PML) expressed jubilation over the decision but civil society groups have assailed the Comelec.
Aur Broquil, chair of the Kilusan para sa Pambansang Demokrasya, accused the Comelec of bias in favor of Pineda, because Pineda and Mrs. Arroyo are known to be close friends.
“It’s all part of a grand scheme of Mrs. Arroyo to install Pineda because that would work well for her plans to run for Congress in the second district,” she said.
Broquil debunked the allegations of Pineda that Panlilio committed anomalies in the 2007 polls.
She noted that Pineda had vast resources when she ran as candidate of the administration party Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (Kampi) while Panlilio, who had resigned as parish priest of Betis town, was an independent candidate without resources.
The PML also backed Pineda during the last elections. Pineda’s son Lubao Mayor Dennis Pineda was the league’s president.
Malacañang denied it had anything to do with the decision of the Comelec to unseat Panlilio.
Deputy presidential spokesman Gary Olivar emphasized that the Comelec is an independent body and as such the Palace accepts its wisdom and discretion on this issue “as on all other electoral disputes over which they have jurisdiction under the law.”
“You can be sure that the Palace had no hand in this Comelec decision, although I should add that this assurance is unnecessary since nobody has offered any shred of evidence for such an allegation,” Olivar said.
Pineda has long been close to Mrs. Arroyo and the two are even kumares (fellow godparents) in a wedding.
Olivar said that the Pineda and the President’s relationship should have no bearing on the decision-making process of the Comelec.
“These kinds of allegations are purely speculative, disrespectful of our institutions and due process, and damaging to the higher objectives of civil discourse and credible elections,” Olivar said. With Ding Cervantes, Ric Sapnu, Marvin Sy
'Panlilio ouster won't benefit GMA House bid' By Marvin Sy and Sheila Crisostomo (The Philippine Star) Updated February 13, 2010 12:00 AM
MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang said having a close friend and political ally of President Arroyo in Pampanga’s top post will make no difference in her bid for a congressional seat in the province’s second district.
Deputy presidential spokesman Gary Olivar made the assessment in reaction to a ruling by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) voiding the victory of Gov. Ed Panlilio in the 2007 gubernatorial race in favor of Lilia Pineda, a friend and ally of Mrs. Arroyo. Panlilio is an outspoken critic of the Arroyo administration.
“I’m not sure if it (Comelec decision) will make that much of a difference because we’re just talking of one district in Pampanga that the President will be running in as congresswoman,” Olivar said.
“It’s not clear to me how whoever is governor in that province will be able to influence that particular race,” he said. “The President has her own organization and constituencies in that district.”
The President is expected to win hands down in the congressional race in the second district of Pampanga.
Olivar maintained that the Palace had nothing to do with the ruling of the Comelec.
“Our position has always been that the Comelec has jurisdiction over electoral affairs. We defer to their judgment,” Olivar said.
“Just because the President may have been associated with this or that side of a dispute before the Comelec does not mean that the President interfered in the hearing of that case. That is a stretch of logic,” he added.
He also stressed that Mrs. Arroyo should have no problem working with whoever is sitting as governor of Pampanga.
“Regardless of who is sitting as governor and whatever the nature of their relationship, the working relationship will not be a problem as long as they agree on working for the interest of the province,” Olivar said.
In San Fernando, Pampanga, Comelec Commissioner Nicodemo Ferrer said the Second Division’s verdict ousting Panlilio does not imply that his camp cheated in the elections.
“Nowhere in the 11,000 pages of the decision we promulgated is there any mention of anomalies in the provincial polls. We based our verdict only on the appreciation of the ballots which were recounted,” Ferrer told The STAR in a telephone interview.
Ferrer noted that while both Panlilio and Pineda had accused each other of anomalies, the Second Division did not tackle fraud issues.
“In a paragraph in the decision, we said that although both parties accused each other of being cheated, no evidence whatsoever was introduced. So we did not deal with the issue of cheating,” he said.
“You don’t even have to read all the 11,000 pages of the decision. Just read the dispositive portions, including the introduction and the ending, to get the substance of the decision,” Ferrer said.
According to Ferrer, the division had ruled in favor of Pineda based only on the “appreciation of votes” cast for the two.
“It’s how you read the handwriting in the ballots (during the revision),” he added.
The Second Division declared, after a recount of the votes, that Pineda won by 2,011 votes over Panlilio.
The recount indicated that Pineda got 190,279 votes as against Panlilio’s 188,718, or a difference of 2,011.
Votes of “Nanay Baby” which were not counted for Pineda in 2007 were credited to Pineda in the recount.
Ferrer emphasized the Panlilio camp may appeal the decision.
Panlilio’s lawyer Ernesto Francisco said he would file a motion for reconsideration on Tuesday.
“A writ of execution will also have to be first issued by the Comelec before Pineda can take over the post of governor,” he added.
The recount, which was finished last September, arose from the electoral protest filed by Pineda after the Comelec proclaimed that Panlilio won over her by 1,145 votes in the 2007 gubernatorial elections.
Pineda’s lawyer George Garcia said he would immediately file a petition for a writ of execution of the Comelec decision.
Uncounted votes
Ferrer admitted, however, that not all votes cast for governor in Mabalacat were included in the recount.
Ferrer recalled that in 2007, 164 of the 399 ballot boxes in the town were burned near the municipal hall, together with the ballots inside. Investigators blamed arson for the fire.
Ferrer said there was “no secondary evidence” that could provide data on the burnt ballots. “It seems that not only the ballots but even the election returns were burned,” he said.
But Comelec provincial supervisor Temmie Lambino said the fire had spared the ERs.
“Copies of the ERs were provided to several parties, including the Comelec central office,” he said.
Irwin Nucum, spokesman of the Kapampangans Kontra Recount (K2R), noted that if all the Mabalacat votes were included, Pineda would not have overtaken Panlilio in the recount.
Nucum said the Second Division’s verdict on the recount was “arbitrary.” “It was done in a way that would favor Pineda,” he said.
Nucum said supporters of Panlilio will continue their prayer vigils and marches to protest the Comelec decision.
“It’s the death of democracy in Pampanga because what a biased Comelec did was to infringe on the sovereign will of the Kapampangans who expressed freely their choice for governor in the 2007 elections,” he said.
Meanwhile, Pineda vowed not to force her way into the provincial capitol, saying she would rather let the law take its course.
“I will not cause trouble and I will not call on my supporters to help me take the capitol,” she said in Filipino. “I don’t want to sow division in the province,” she added.
“I hope Governor Panlilio will wait for the decision of the Comelec which will review the poll body’s second division resolution,” she said.
“Let us not preempt whatever will be their decision.”
Panlilio, for his part, welcomed Pineda’s call for sobriety.
“Both of us have rights and legal parameters. I pray that this issue be resolved not through harassment which would not bring good to the people of Pampanga,” he said.
In the May elections, Panlilio will again square off with Pineda, the wife of alleged gambling lord Rodolfo “Bong” Pineda.
Motivation
Outspoken Arroyo critic Lingayen Dagupan Emeritus Archbishop Oscar Cruz shrugged off the Comelec ruling, saying it might even motivate Panlilio to campaign harder.
“I think he has decided to run again. I don’t think that he is backing out. In fact, if I understand it right, he is even the chairman of the Liberal Party in the province,” the 75-year- old prelate said.
Unlike in the 2007 elections when he ran as an independent, Panlilio now has a running mate and board members.
“I don’t think this will derail (his plan). I think it will inspire him more. It will give him more fire and energy and more conviction to go after the office,” Cruz said.
Cruz, who had opposed Panlilio’s decision to enter politics, said he doesn’t think the priest-on-leave cheated in the 2007 polls. “In fairness to Governor Panlilio, I’m not convinced that he did some cheating.” – With Ding Cervantes, Ric Sapnu and Evelyn Macairan