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Friday, June 29, 2007
SC rejects plea to stop Maguindanao canvassing
MANILA -- The Supreme Court refused Thursday to stop the Commission on Elections (Comelec) from canvassing election documents retrieved from Maguindanao.
In rejecting the petition of Genuine Opposition (GO) senatorial candidate Aquilino “Koko" Pimentel III, the Supreme Court (SC) may have paved the way for administration candidate Juan Miguel Zubiri to snatch the 12th and last seat from Pimentel.
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The 12 justices present unanimously voted not to issue a temporary restraining order (TRO). Chief Justice Reynato Puno also directed the parties to submit their memoranda discussing the merits of the case within 10 days.
Zubiri welcomed the decision, saying it showed that “democracy still prevails."
Initial tallies by the Special Provincial Board of Canvassers showed Zubiri dislodging Pimentel after getting more than 150,000 votes from 16 of the 22 towns of the province.
During the oral arguments at the SC, Pimentel failed to convince the court that there was a need to stop the re-canvass and exclude the Maguindanao votes on suspicions of a “statistical improbability.”
“The Maguindanao votes were highly irregular because these were generated by the Comelec through irregular means," said Pimentel, who argued his own case.
“These documents may be written on Comelec paper but the integrity, validity, and the custody chain are questionable and untrustworthy under irregular circumstances," he said.
However, Pimentel admitted he has no concrete evidence that the municipal certificates of canvass (MCOCs) generated from Maguindanao have been tampered with.
Remedy
Associate Justice Cancio Garcia pointed out that if the court grants the petition, it could mean the disenfranchisement of more than 200,000 Maguindanao voters.
“You’re imputing irregularity on the documents not on its face but on the manner these documents were generated. You have no proof whatsoever that the documents were themselves irregular, tampered or doctored," Garcia told Pimentel during the hearing, which lasted over two hours.
Garcia suggested that the Comelec be allowed to finish the canvassing, since whoever loses can still question the authenticity of the ballots before the Senate Electoral Tribunal.
Associate Justice Minita Chico-Nazario pointed out that the SC has no jurisdiction over Pimentel’s claim of “statistical improbability" involving the result of the re-canvassing---where 18 out of the 37 senatorial candidates received no vote in Maguindanao.
In a comment submitted prior to the oral arguments, the Comelec asked the SC to dismiss the petition.
Proof
“Such allegations (of statistical improbability and fraud) must be substantiated by adequate proof in an appropriate case and before the proper forum. The present petition for certiorari and prohibition is not the appropriate vehicle to ventilate such claims," Comelec lawyer Alioden Dalaig said.
Comelec Chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr. said only a TRO from the SC would have stopped them from canvassing the documents from Maguindanao.
He said they might be able to proclaim Friday the 12th senator and the party-list groups that have reached the required two percent of total votes cast for the party-list elections.
Pimentel, the son of incumbent Senator Aquilino “Nene" Pimentel Jr., is projected to lose his lead over Zubiri, the outgoing Bukidnon representative, once all the votes from Maguindanao are added to the national canvass.
“If there’s no TRO by tonight (Thursday), what can we do? We have to beat the June 30 deadline,” Abalos said.
The administration’s Team Unity ticket got all the top 12 slots in the senatorial count in Maguindanao. (ECV/MSN/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Davao. (June 29, 2007 issue)
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