Comelec to include 3 more bets in May ballots
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will accommodate three more local candidates who secured temporary restraining orders (TROs) from the Supreme Court, which stayed their disqualifications.
“We have yet to resume our printing, so we have no problem complying with the Supreme Court injunctive writs at this point for local positions,” Comelec Chair George Garcia told reporters in a Viber message.
The Comelec is currently making changes in the election management system (EMS) covering the automated counting machines, consolidated canvassing system and online voting and counting system to include the five candidates who earlier secured similar TROs.
Comelec spokesperson John Rex Laudiangco said the changes required by the TROs can be done promptly, before the rescheduled trusted build and reprinting of official ballots next week.
The latest three candidates who secured TROs from the high court were Marie Grace David, who is running for vice mayor of Limay, Bataan; Marie Dominique Oñate, a mayoral candidate of Palompon, Leyte; and Aldrin Sta. Ana, mayoral candidate of Bocaue, Bulacan.
Just in time
Laudiangco said the election systems changes are expected to be finished by Monday, after which the trusted build or final versions will be tested. On Tuesday, the generation of 1,667 ballot faces or templates and the serialization of the ballots will take place.
“The Comelec intends to restart ballot production at the soonest possible time to mitigate and recoup lost ballot printing time,” he said.
Meanwhile, both Garcia and Laudiangco thumbed down the proposal of senatorial candidate Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan to place the name of senatorial candidate Subair Mustapha at the bottom of the list on the ballot.
Pangilinan, who will move from No. 50 to 51 on the ballot due to the insertion of Mustapha’s name, proposed that Mustapha be just placed at the bottom or 67th place.
This would spare other candidates from incurring additional expenses as many of them already have finished printing posters and campaign materials.
The insertion of Mustapha’s name in the list of senatorial candidates will result in Pangilinan and seven other candidates moving a notch lower.
No change in numbers
However, due to the withdrawal of former Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis “Chavit” Singson from the senate race, the number of candidates will remain at 66 and there will be no adjustments in the numbering of the candidates listed after him.
“It might result in another TRO [petition] and we might be accused of violation of the equal protection clause of the Constitution. It appears that the TRO issued by the Supreme Court [for Mustapha’s case] not only orders the inclusion of his name in the list of candidates but to place him in the correct number based on the alphabetical arrangement. We understand their feelings about this incident, being the ones affected [by the TRO],” Garcia said.
Laudiangco said the alphabetical arrangement, based on the surname, “is the most equitable and most objective order/sequence of candidates by which no particular person will be intentionally given premium and preference.”
“The reason for the high court’s issuance of a TRO is to have candidate Mustapha be included in the said list of candidates and official ballots, and therefore, he must be treated equally as with the other candidates, with the rules on said sequence/order being afforded also to him. To put his name last on the list would go against fair play and equality of treatment,” he said.
The ongoing changes or amendments to the EMS also “necessitates a corresponding regeneration of new ballot faces and reserialization of ballots, and the corresponding reprinting of ballots,” he said.
