Palawan gov ready to face Comelec charges

Palawan Gov. Joel Reyes is ready to face charges that may be filed against him by the Commission on Elections in connection with the alleged election offense lodged against him by his defeated political opponent in the 2001 elections, the former Mayor Edward Hagedorn.

Provincial Information Officer Rolando Bonoan, Jr. issued this statement after the Comelec Commissioners en banc released its resolution upholding the findings of its law department of the case filed by Hagedorn against Reyes.

The decision of the Comelec merely upholds the recommendation of the law department and orders it to file the necessary information to the respondent and assign a Comelec prosecutor. This is not an indication that Reyes has committed any election violation specifically Sec. 100 (as amended by Sec. 13 of RA No. 7166) in connection with Sec. 252 of the Omnibus Election Code as claimed by his political opponent. Reyes won by an overwhelming majority in the 2001 elections surpassing Hagedorn’s votes by 33,489.

"The governor still has other legal remedies to exhaust to obtain justice and clear his name," Bonoan said. He said that the arguments raised on the defense of the respondent are debatable and presumptuous.

Supporters of the Palawan governor said that the law department which they believed has rendered a prejudicial and biased decision, is the same law department that issued a controversial recommendation to the commissioners en banc in connection with the Douglas Hagedorn vs. Gov. Salvador Socrates case. They recalled that the law department, in favoring Hagedorn, asserted that the missing governor committed terrorism and massive fraud in the 1998 elections which the commissioners en banc upheld in a controversial resolution.