Padaca urged to inhibit self in poll case vs Dy

MANILA, Philippines - Two weeks after declining the offer of President Aquino to become a commissioner of the Commission on Elections (Comelec), a lawyer yesterday sought the inhibition of Commissioner Grace Padaca on behalf of his client, Isabela Gov. Faustino Dy.

In an eight-page petition, Dy’s lawyer Maria Bernadette Sardillo said Padaca should not take part in the electoral protest case that she filed against Dy in connection with the 2010 gubernatorial race.

Sardillo said the case is pending with the Comelec’s Second Division where Padaca belongs.

“Clearly, Commissioner Padaca cannot sit in the division where her own election protest is pending. This is a clear case of conflict of interest,” she said.

Sardillo declined the Comelec post last March 9 and rumors had it that Padaca had allegedly blocked her appointment with the help of Justice Secretary Leila de Lima.

Sardillo was also the lawyer of former governor Benjamin Dy who unseated Padaca as Isabela governor in the 2007 polls. De Lima was then the lawyer of Padaca.

In the 2010 elections, Padaca ran for governor of Isabela but lost to Faustino Dy. She questioned this by filing an electoral protest with the Comelec.

According to Sardillo, Padaca “cannot be the judge in a case where she has a personal and vested interest in as shown by her vigorous opposition to the withdrawal and/or dismissal of the instant electoral protest case.”

“To avoid any appearance of impropriety and remove any cloud of bias, Commissioner Padaca must inhibit herself from the instant election protest,” her petition stated.

Asked about this, Padaca just replied in a text message that “I have already signed with the word ‘inhibit’ (in) an en banc order to transfer records to the First Division. I did that earlier... their motion for inhibition.” She refused to elaborate.

In a telephone interview, Sadillo said they have given Padaca “the opportunity to inhibit from the case” but this did not happen. 

Sardillo denied that the filing of the petition was meant to get back at Padaca, who became Comelec commissioner in October 2012, for blocking her appointment to the Comelec.

“She denied that, right? And I have not issued any statement also about that. I’m just doing my job as a lawyer for my client,” she said.