CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- The Commission on Elections' (Comelec) Second Division has refused to recognize lawyer Ernesto Francisco Jr. as Governor Eddie Panlilio's lead counsel.

This is in line with the on-going recount case filed by losing gubernatorial candidate Lilia Pineda.

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Commissioner Nicodemo Ferrer told Sun.Star Pampanga on Sunday that the Second Division has refused to recognize Francisco after the latter failed to personally appear before the formal hearings of the division in many occasions.

Ferrer said he was also dismayed by Francisco's filing of repeated motions that he describes as aimed to "delay" the proceedings of the recount case.

"He has not been appearing in many of the hearings which is unbecoming since the lawyer of the other party has been diligently appearing and following the directives of the division. How can someone act as lead counsel if he does not appear in the proceedings and is busy filing motions that are meant to delay the proceedings," Ferrer said.

Among the "delaying" motions recently filed by Francisco was the motion to dismiss the recount case and the suspension of the recount proceedings, the Comelec official said.

Ferrer said the Second Division has recognized lawyer Sixto Brillantes, another Panlilio's lawyer, as lead counsel in place of Francisco.

He said Brillantes has been very visible and cooperative in the proceedings.

"Since he is the one present, we are recognizing him as Panlilio's lead counsel," Ferrer said, stressing that if Francisco would still insist on being lead counsel but continue to be absent in the proceedings and file motions that would delay the recount, he would be forced to file indirect contempt against Francisco.

Ferrer said Francisco may still represent Panlilio in a "corroborative capacity" along with the other lawyers of Panlilio.

For his part, Panlilio said in an interview Sunday that his lead counsel is still Francisco and not Brillantes. Panlilio said Francisco will continue to function as his lead counsel.

The next hearing in the recount case is scheduled on November 12 where Panlilio is set to present his pieces of evidence and testimonies of his witnesses on his contested votes.

Ferrer said the Second Division may be able to come out with its final resolution before the end of November, provided that no other issues and concerns are raised by the lawyers of both parties on the contested votes.

The recount is an offshoot of the electoral protest filed by Pineda who ran and lost to Panlilio by 1,147 votes.

Pineda alleged that there was "misreading and misappreciation of ballots, insertion of face or unofficial ballots, fraud and other election anomalies, 'dagdag-bawas' and vote buying" during the 2007 gubernatorial polls.

But Panlilio, along with remaining allies and some former supporters, say they believe in the integrity of the 2007 governatorial polls that propelled Panlilio, the first Roman Catholic priest in the country be elected governor. (Ian Ocampo Flora)