Comelec to decide on PDP-Laban row by yearend

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is expecting to release the decision on the leadership issue of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) in two more weeks, or before the year ends.

Comelec spokesman James Jimenez told The Chiefs that the decision will be released as soon as they have the list of the official candidates for the 2022 polls, as it determines who among them have their official certificates of nomination and acceptance (CONA) from their political parties.

“Our original expectation in releasing the official candidates is on Dec. 15 and part of the things that you need to clear up, if you’re gonna come up with the list of official candidates, is of course whoever has a CONA, or none, and that’s one of the downstream effects of deciding the PDP-Laban controversy,” Jimenez, in a mix of Filipino and English, told The Chiefs.

But Jimenez told reporters in a Viber message yesterday afternoon that they could not yet release today the official list of candidates, pending a number of unresolved nuisance cases.

“We expect that the process of finalizing the list of candidates will take at least two more weeks,” he added, when asked when it will likely be released by the Comelec.

Jimenez emphasized that the commissioners are now working double time to come up with the decision as he emphasized that they have set their “self-imposed deadlines.”

PDP-Laban’s faction led by Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi had asked the Comelec last September to declare aspiring president Sen. Manny Pacquiao and Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III as illegal representatives of the political party.

The clerk of the Comelec confirmed last October that the poll body has already heard the party’s leadership issues, but no details were provided as it emphasized that this type of decision “will only be released to parties involved.”

On petitions filed against the presidential bid of former senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Jimenez told The Chiefs that they have a separate timeline for the petitions to cancel the certificate of candidacy (COC) of Marcos, which is expected to be released before the start of printing ballots on Jan. 15, 2022.

Jimenez explained that they can “fairly quickly” come up with the decision on the petition to cancel Marcos’ COC, but not the disqualification cases as it would take a little longer.

“As far as the cancellation cases are concerned, well yes, we expect them to resolve fairly quickly, but not the disqualification case filed against him. Those can take a little longer because they will have to deal with other issues,” Jimenez said.

“It has no timetable in the context of election day because disqualification case can drag on depending on how the lawyers can argue about it, so I can’t be certain how fast the issue will be resolved,” he added.

Jimenez also emphasized that the Comelec has no power to “resurrect” the lapsed deadline for the substitution of candidates, opposing the statement of aspiring senator Salvador Panelo that they would find Sen. Bong Go’s replacement after he officially withdrew his COC for president yesterday.

“The deadline for substitution is done. So, we would not be moving it, if we did it, now it would be resurrecting the period for substitution. That’s not something that we’re empowered to do. We don’t have the power to do that,” Jimenez said.

He emphasized that no more substitution will be allowed for voluntary withdrawal of COC.

“Their candidate shouldn’t withdraw, then,” Jimenez said when asked to react to Panelo’s statement, saying that it would be unfair for the political party if the Comelec will not move the deadline to accommodate withdrawal of some candidates.