Expect a ‘surprising’ decision on Panlilio’s case - Comelec exec

Expect the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to issue a "surprising" decision on the electoral protest filed against Pampanga Governor Eduardo "Ed" Panlilio by Lilia Pineda, former provincial board member and a known ally of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Comelec commissioner Nicodemo Ferrer on Wednesday said that on January 7, the poll body would come out with a ruling contrary to public expectation. “You’ll be surprised because some of you have already formed your opinion on who is the winner," said Ferrer, presiding officer of the Comelec’s Second Division. It is the same division that declared as null and void the term of Governor Grace Padaca in favor of her political rival, Benjamin Dy, last December 8. Pineda, who hails from Mrs. Arroyo’s hometown of Lubao, is alleging that the priest-turned-politician won in the 2007 polls through massive cheating and other poll irregularities. Panlilio gathered a total of 219,706 votes in the electoral race, winning over Pineda by a slim margin of 1,147 votes. Critics of the Comelec believe that the poll body’s Second Division will come out with a decision unfavorable to Panlilio, just like what it did to Padaca and Joselito “Jonjon" Mendoza. Last December 1, the poll body also unseated the Bulacan governor in favor of his rival, Roberto “Obet" Pagdanganan, after Mendoza joined the Liberal Party. This was not the first time that Ferrer was quoted by reporters as saying that the Comelec would issue a surprising decision. He said the same before the Second Division dismissed the petition of Ang Ladlad to be included in next year’s party-list elections. The commissioner, however, defended the rulings, fending off speculations that his division’s decisions were marred with “political vendetta." Ferrer said critics could always elevate cases to the Comelec en banc if they are not satisfied with the decisions of his division. “They are forgetting the fact that the resolution of the Second Division is not final. It’s appealable…we have the laws, we have the legal procedures…the remedy is not through the media. It’s in the courts," he said. - ARCS/LGB, GMANews.TV