bitbet Comelec halts printing of ballots for May polls

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Comelec chair George Garcia (left) and former Caloocan Rep Edgar Erice —Inquirer/Marianne Bermudez/Lyn Rillon

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) announced on Tuesday that it was immediately stopping the printing of 73 million official ballots for the May 12 elections after the Supreme Court issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) preventing it from disqualifying five candidates, among them former Caloocan Rep. Edgar Erice.

In a statement, Comelec spokesperson John Rex Laudiangco said that while the poll body has yet to officially receive the copies of the TRO, “we commit to fully comply with said orders.”

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Supreme Court spokesperson Camille Ting told reporters that the TRO, which was effective immediately, prohibited the Comelec from disqualifying the five individuals and removing their names from ballots.

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“So it’s up to [the] Comelec how they will implement this, but they will just have to follow the order of the SC,” Ting said.

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READ: Comelec: No basis to exclude Quiboloy, but Erice disqualified

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The high tribunal issued the TRO following a full court session in which it acted on the petitions of the five candidates challenging their disqualification by the poll body.

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They included Erice, who is eyeing a House seat in Caloocan City’s second district, and Chito Balintay, a member of the indigenous peoples of Zambales, whose certificate of candidacy (COC) for governor was rejected by the poll body.

The third and fourth petitioners were Subair Guinthum Mustapha, a senatorial aspirant, and Charles Savellano, a candidate for representative of Ilocos Sur’s first district. Both were earlier declared by the Comelec to be nuisance candidates.

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On the other hand, Florendo Ritualo had challenged the Comelec resolution canceling his COC for city councilor in San Juan’s first district.

The high court gave the poll body 10 days to comment on the petitions filed by Erice, Balintay and Ritualo, and five days to respond to the petitions of Mustapha and Savellano.

Part of process

Asked for comment, Comelec Chair George Garcia told reporters: “It’s part of the process. We will have to find a way to comply with the SC directive.”

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The Comelec said it would also amend the database for candidates, the Election Management System (EMS), Automated Counting Machine and Consolidation and Canvassing System, whose source codes were finalized, verified and approved on Jan. 13.

According to Laudiangco, the poll body will conduct a study to determine whether or not the changes in the EMS and database for candidates will require another local source code review and approval from an international certification entity.

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In addition, it will have to reprint all the affected ballots “at the proper time when all necessary changes in the Candidates’ Database and EMS have been effected, as well as the accounting and auditing of the necessary costs and wastage, including the wages of personnel, supplies and materials inclusive of ballot paper, toners and others.”

Delays

Due to the TRO, the Comelec will also need to reschedule the ‘’trusted build’’ or setup of the online voting and counting system to be used in the overseas elections, which was scheduled for Jan. 15.

An inventory of the printed ballots, transporting these for safekeeping to the Comelec warehouse in Santa Rosa, Laguna, and their destruction to prevent any unauthorized use will begin on Jan. 15.

“While these actions are time-consuming and costly, [the] Comelec fully respects the decision of the Supreme Court and recognizes these orders as part of legal processes,” the poll body said.

“The public is informed that while delays are necessary, there is no cause for alarm, concern, or panic, as the Comelec is fully in control of the situation and will implement the necessary contingency measures to mitigate the effects,” it added.

Garcia earlier warned of a “big problem” should the high court issue last-minute decisions involving candidates the Comelec had already disqualified from running in the May 12 midterm elections.

The printing of 73 million ballots to be used in the polls started on Jan. 6. Targeted for completion by April 14, the printing process was delayed by nearly a month because the poll body had to determine first who among the candidates were qualified to run.

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According to Garciabitbet, adding the names of the disqualified candidates will be a “complicated scenario.”

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