Comelec defers printing of ballots anew

MANILA, Philippines — The resumption of printing of the 73 million ballots for the May midterm elections was deferred anew, as the Supreme Court (SC) issued another temporary restraining order (TRO) against the disqualification of a senatorial aspirant.

Following the SC’s order, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) has again deferred the printing of official ballots.

“We can postpone the printing of ballots to Saturday, instead of tomorrow, because of the overtime our Comelec personnel will need to update the database. At the same time, we need to change the 1,697 ballot faces of the entire country,” Comelec Chairman George Garcia said in Filipino in a radio interview yesterday.

Garcia said the Comelec will exhaust all efforts to make all the necessary amendments and finish procedures by Friday, so they could resume ballot printing by Saturday.

Yesterday, the SC issued a temporary restraining order against the Comelec, allowing the inclusion of Francis Leo Antonio Marcos among the list of senatorial candidates to be printed on the ballot.

The High Court also temporarily barred the poll body from disqualifying dismissed Albay governor Noel Rosal from running for governor anew.

The SC has given the Comelec five days to comment on Marcos’ and Rosal’s petitions.

The two cases constitute the 10th and 11th TROs the SC issued on petitions filed by candidates whose names were deleted from the ballots after being disqualified by the Comelec from running in the midterm elections.

The first nine candidates who earlier secured TROs from the SC were senatorial aspirant Subair Guinthum Mustapha; Caloocan City representative Edgar Erice; Charles Savellano, who is running as representative of Ilocos Sur’s first district; Chito Bulatao Balintay, running for Zambales governor, and Florendo de Ramos Ritualo Jr. who is vying for a seat in the San Juan City council.

The SC also issued TROs favoring candidates Marie Grace David, who is running for vice mayor in Limay, Bataan; Mary Dominique Oñate who is running for mayor of Palompon, Leyte; Aldrin Sta. Ana, who is running for mayor of Bocaue, Bulacan and dismissed Mandaue City mayor Jonas Cortes, who is running for reelection.

After the first batch of TROs was issued, the Comelec suspended the printing of official ballots and announced that about six million ballots would have to be destroyed through shredding.

According to Camille Sue Mae Ting, SC spokesperson, they have received about 25 petitions with prayers for TROs in relation to the May elections.

“We still have a few pending but we will just have to wait and see if the SC will issue a TRO,” she said.

Garcia said the Commission is committed to complying with the directive of the Supreme Court because it is part of the legal process and the rule of law.

While the printing of ballots will not resume until Saturday, the Comelec chief said they will proceed with the scheduled mock election on Saturday.

He said the mock elections, which would serve as end-to-end testing of the automated counting machines, will be held in 20 areas, including Singapore.

Nuisance bets

Meanwhile, Garcia said the Comelec is looking into the criminal liability of nuisance candidates.

“What if they repeatedly file a certificate of candidacy, make a candidate pay to run or made to run in order to cause chaos? Isn’t that bad faith?” Garcia pointed out.

“Therefore, there must be criminal liability. Even if it’s not imprisonment, a fine will teach them a lesson,” he added.

Many aspirants have been making a mockery of the electoral process, but Garcia said an amendment of the Omnibus Election Code is necessary to sanction them. – Daphne Galvez