SC tells Melo to explain role in leakage of poll automation ruling

The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered Commission on Elections (Comelec) chair Jose Melo to clear up his alleged role in the leakage of the court’s ruling that favored the commission’s poll automation project in 2010. SC spokesperson Jose Midas Marquez said the high tribunal gave Melo 10 days to comment on the motion filed against him by the Concerned Citizens Movement (CCM) represented by lawyers led by Harry Roque. “The court decided to require the Comelec chair to file a comment on that motion. (After which), the court will resolve the motion," Marquez told reporters. GMANews.TV tried to contact Melo for his reaction, but he could not be reached. Last Tuesday, September 8, Melo and Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez rejoiced that the high court’s justices had voted in favor of the P7.2-billion poll automation contract. Melo, a retired associate justice of the Supreme Court, told reporters that 11 justices voted for the contract, three others dissented, while one was out of the country when the supposed voting took place. Jimenez said the Comelec chief learned about the ruling’s details from "sources who had been in touch" with the poll body ever since the case against the automation deal was filed. The ruling, however, was promulgated only last Thursday, September 10. A court decision becomes final and official only after promulgation. Melo, who the CCM wants to be cited for contempt, had earlier denied responsibility for the premature release of the ruling. The Comelec chair said he only learned that the SC upheld the poll automation contract from news reports. In Tuesday’s interview, Marquez said the matter was a “sensitive issue." He also asked media organizations to refrain from bringing out stories on court decisions that have yet to be promulgated. “It does not only sow confusion; it is also (a) disservice to the judiciary," Marquez said. - GMANews.Tv