NP to appeal SC decision nullifying coalition with NPC

Nacionalista Party (NP) will be appealing the Supreme Court decision nullifying its coalition with the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC), party senatorial bet Adel Tamano said on Friday. The party has 15 days to appeal the ruling which effectively dimished its chances of being declared the dominant minority party in the May polls, Tamano said in an interview with reporters. "The decision is not yet final... our lawyers are looking into that," he said. On Thursday, the high tribunal overturned a poll body decision recognizing the NP-NPC coalition. Tamano admitted that the party remains unsure if the SC will be able to rule on their motion should it be filed. "We don't have if the SC has material time," he said. The high court is set to go on recess and will resume session in June. He likewise said that the NP won't do anything else should the SC's decision become final. "We must respect the decision of the SC," he said. But Tamano said that the party will still stand by their coalition. "We legally should have been declared the dominant minority party," he said. On Thursday, Comelec chairman Jose Melo said that the the Liberal Party might be declared as the dominant minority party because of the high tribunal's decision. LP, the NP-NPC Coalition, and the Puwersa ng Masang Pilipino are all vying for the poll body’s nod to become the dominant minority party in May, entitling one of them to the sixth copy of the election returns (ERs) and a server which will show the election results as they are transmitted. But LP opposed the NP-NPC application, saying that the coalition was only formed to meet the poll body’s requirement that the dominant minority party field the most number of candidates in the national and local elections. Comelec records show that LP will be fielding 5,934 candidates in the May polls while NP will be fielding 5,565 and NPC 2,373. Republic Act 9369 or the amended Poll Automation Law requires the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines to print 30 copies of the ERs, which indicate the election results at the precinct level. - RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV