SC OKs recount petition vs Panlilio

MANILA, Philippines – The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the resumption of the hearing of a petition questioning the validity of Pampanga governor’s Eddie "Among Ed" Panlilio’s victory in the 2007 elections. This as the high court lifted the status quo ante order that it issued February 19 last year for the petition of former provincial board member Lilia Pineda before the Commission on Elections (Comelec). The status quo order prohibited the transfer of ballot boxes from the Comelec’s office in Pampanga to its warehouse in Manila that would have paved way for the recount. In her recount petition, Pineda accused Panlilio of cheating in the local election in their province in 2007. She said there was a “misreading" of the ballots. Pineda and then re-electionist Mark Lapid lost to Panlilio, who was just more than 1,000 votes ahead of his closest rival in the gubernatorial race. In Thursday’s decision, the court stressed that the term for elective posts such as gubernatorial seats are short and petitions questioning it should not be held pending too long. “A title to public elective office must not be left long under a cloud. The efficiency of public administration should not be impaired," the court said. It said that “public interest" ultimately suffers from “feuds and discords" generated by electoral protests. Panlilio, who temporarily left priesthood after securing a seat in public governance, had filed a motion before the Comelec’s Second Division to junk Pineda’s recount petition. The Second Division denied Panlilio’s request, prompting the governor to elevate his complaint before the Comelec en banc. The Second Division later issued a resolution stopping Panlilio from bringing the matter up to the en banc. In response, Panlilio brought his complaint all the way up to the Supreme Court, saying the poll body’s Second Division has no jurisdiction over a petition filed before the Comelec en banc. SC justices however sided with the Second Division and said it can stop Panlilio from bringing his motion to the en banc because the hearing at the division level has not yet been completed. - with Carlo Lorenzo, GMANews.TV