Typoco remains as Camarines Norte gov, says lawyer

MANILA, Philippines - Incumbent Camarines Norte Gov. Jesus Typoco has not been unseated by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and would remain as chief executive of the province until the legal opposition against his victory in the 2007 local polls is resolved with finality, his lawyer said yesterday.

Lawyer Romulo Macalintal belied reports that Typoco has already been unseated by the Comelec by virtue of a Supreme Court (SC) decision dismissing his petition assailing the poll body’s previous resolutions finding Typoco’s rival, Edgardo Tallado, the “winner” in the 2007 gubernatorial race.

Macalintal said he has yet to receive a copy of the SC decision but will definitely file a motion for reconsideration.

He said the SC issued a temporary restraining order on March 5, 2009 and “that injunction remains in force and effect pending the filing and during the pendency of the said motion for reconsideration, hence the resolutions of the Comelec cannot yet be implemented despite the said decision of the Supreme Court.”

“Any attempt to implement the said decision pending filing or resolution of the motion for reconsideration is a contemptuous act and borders on disrespect to the Supreme Court, if not outright insolence,” he added.

In the May 2007 elections, Typoco was proclaimed as governor with a margin of 2,600 votes over Tallado. 

Tallado contested Typoco’s proclamation after 180 days by filing before the Comelec a “petition to correct manifest errors” on the results of the precinct tabulation of votes as appearing on the Statement of Votes by Precinct (SOVPs) of Labo town.

Tallado claimed that his votes in this municipality were “decreased” and those of Typoco were “increased.”

Typoco questioned the SOVPs, alleging that they were “fake, spurious and substituted SOVPs” as testified to by no less than Comelec officials in charge of the records and the election officer who prepared the original SOVs as canvassed by the board.

The Comelec, with Commissioner Rene Sarmiento dissenting, granted Tallado’s petition and declared him winner by 65 votes when it “corrected” the entries of the SOVs.

Sarmiento dissented as he found, based on personal examination, no errors in the election returns that would affect the poll results that still showed Typoco the winner, Macalintal said.

Upon the Comelec’s directive, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) investigated and examined the questioned SOVPs. 

The NBI, in a report submitted to the Comelec on July 16, 2009, said the SOVPs “are not genuine and are accomplished by persons other than those names indicated therein and that there was switching and falsification of the said SOVPs at the Comelec premises,” Macalintal said.

Macalintal said, “I cannot believe how the (SC) could sustain the Comelec in using fake and spurious documents in resolving an election contest and suddenly refused to look into the glaring falsification of these SOVPs as found by no less than the Comelec officials and the NBI.” – With Sandy Araneta