Tancangco bares vote vs Caloocan polls, gets flak

Commission on Elections Commissioner Luzviminda Tancangco revealed in radio interview yesterday that she had voted to declare a failure of elections in Caloocan City, drawing flak from city officials who said she was preempting the Comelec decision.

A special election will be held in Caloocan City should the Comelec en banc declare a failure of elections in the city.

In an interview over Radio Mindanao Network’s dzxl, Tancangco said that she personally voted to declare a failure of elections in Caloocan City "based on the evidence presented,"

She is the author or ponente of the Comelec ruling on a petition filed by former congressman and mayoral candidate Luis "Baby" Asistio and his brother, Macario "Boy" Jr. who ran for Congress in the last elections. The Asistios claimed massive disenfranchisement of majority of the city’s 522, 088 registered voters as main reason for their petition.

She added that she gave copies of the resolution to Comelec Chairman Alfredo Benipayo and the other Comelec commissioners last Monday morning.

"But I learned from my staff that the Chairman’s office returned the draft to my office unsigned," she said in an interview at the Comelec office in Intramuros after the Comelec en banc meeting had adjourned.

She said in the earlier radio interview that should her colleagues reverse her decision, she would submit a dissenting opinion. An affirmative vote of four of the seven Comelec officials, including Benipayo’s, is needed to make a decision final.

She rebuked Benipayo for announcing to the press that she was the ponente. She said that this should have been kept confidential in accordance to the election body’s rules. She, however, found nothing wrong in announcing over the radio her decision even before this could be affirmed by her colleagues.

On the other hand, Caloocan City officer-in-charge Reynaldo Malonzo said that Tancangco’s announcement was uncalled for, as it "pre-empted" the Comelec decision.

"She should not have made the statement in the first place, It is unethical!" Malonzo complained.

He claimed that Tancangco had been bias in favor of the Asistios "even before the Comelec had investigation the election mess in the city."

He said that he would file appropriate charges against Tancangco "after all this mess is over." At the same time, he remains confident that the other commissioners will overrule her decision.

He added that he would go to the Supreme Court should her decision be affirmed. – With Pete Laude, Jerry Botial