SC issues more TROs vs Comelec DQ rulings
The Supreme Court issued on Tuesday two more temporary restraining orders (TROs) against the Commission on Elections (Comelec), preventing the poll body from disqualifying Francis Leo Marcos and former Albay Gov. Noel Rosal in the upcoming May elections.
“These TROs prevent the Comelec from implementing the resolutions considering the candidates either disqualified or a nuisance candidate. So that means they have to be included in the ballot,” Supreme Court spokesperson Camille Ting said at a press briefing.
Marcos challenged the poll body’s resolutions that labeled him a nuisance candidate and revoked his certificate of candidacy (COC) for senator.
According to Ting, the Comelec had determined that Marcos did not show a genuine intent to run for office, despite being allowed to run for senator in the 2022 elections, where he garnered 4,477,024 votes.
Rosal, meanwhile, contested the Comelec resolutions that canceled his COC for Albay governor, following a respondent’s claim that Rosal’s dismissal from service by the Ombudsman carried a penalty of perpetual disqualification from holding public office.
More cases pending
The high tribunal has resolved 11 out of 25 election-related petitions seeking TROs submitted since the end of COC filing on Oct. 9, 2024, up to yesterday.
From Oct. 1, 2024, to Jan. 10, Ting said that the court received 22 petitions related to party list registration.
She noted that the high court was expediting its review of election-related petitions seeking restraining orders against the Comelec, which is always part of the Supreme Court en banc’s agenda.
“The court does consider the printing of the ballots, of course. But then it did remind the Comelec, in the case of Marquez, the case decided earlier, that [it] should also be aware that in disqualifying candidates, there is a big chance that these candidates are going to be bringing the issue to the Supreme Court and that the court would need time to actually resolve the cases,” Ting pointed out.
Practicable timeline
She was referring to the 2022 decision on General Register (GR) No. 258435, where the high tribunal urged the poll body to adopt a practicable timeline to ensure that all cases which may result in the inclusion or exclusion of a candidate are resolved at the earliest possible time.
The high tribunal emphasized that Comelec dispositions are subject to Supreme Court review, which also requires ample time to resolve such cases before Election Day.
“It should further consider that the aggrieved party will likely seek injunctive relief from the Court, which might affect its timeline for necessary election preparations,” the Supreme Court said in the ruling penned by Associate Justice Amy Lazaro-Javier.
Still on target
The Comelec on Jan. 14 temporarily halted the printing of 73 million ballots for the elections after the high court issued a TRO preventing the disqualification of five candidates: former Caloocan Rep. Edgar Erice, Chito Balintay, Subair Guinthum Mustapha, Charles Sevillano and Florendo Ritualo.
The high court also issued TROs for local government candidates Marie Grace David, Mary Dominique Oñate, Aldrin Sta. Ana and Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes.
The Comelec remained confident of meeting the deadline to finish printing the ballots in time for the May 12 polls.
Comelec Chair George Erwin Garcia on Tuesday said the poll body was ready to accommodate more disqualified candidates who might obtain TROs from the high court.
Speaking to reporters at the Comelec warehouse in Biñan City, Laguna, where he monitored the generation of 1,667 ballot faces or templates and the serialization of ballots, Garcia said Comelec’s IT department had changed the election management system (EMS) to include an “add feature” that would make it easier to make such changes.
Deferred resumption
The EMS covers the various technologies to be used in the polls, including that for the automated counting machines (ACMs), overseas absentee voting system, and the consolidation and canvassing system.
With the additional TROs on Tuesday, Garcia said printing could not resume on Wednesday since generating ballot faces and serializing ballots need to start over and would take “two to three days.”
The April 14 deadline of the Comelec to print the 71 million official ballots stands, he stressed, with the target of finishing 1.5 million ballots a day.
