Comelec mulls filing charges vs QC lawmaker

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Monday said it is thinking of filing charges against Quezon City Rep. Annie Rosa Susano for possessing compact flash (CF) cards — supposedly used in the May 10 polls — without its knowledge. "She has (the CF cards) and she's not authorized to have them," Comelec spokesman James Jimenez told reporters in an interview. On Friday's hearing at the House of Representatives, Susano presented two CF cards — which she referred to as “CFCs" — and claimed that they were used to rig the results of Quezon City’s mayoralty race, wherein she lost to incumbent Vice Mayor Herbert Bautista. Asked by Smartmatic Asia president Cesar Flores where she got the cards, the lawmaker replied: “That’s [not] my problem. That’s your problem." Jimenez said the commission is yet to decide what charges to file against Susano, and that the poll body is carefully studying the matter. "We will come up with the proper legal action against her," he said. Also Monday, several other lawmakers — led by defeated Surigao del Norte gubernatorial candidate and incumbent Gov. Ace Barbers — alleged that they were offered pre-programmed CF cards to ensure their victory in the automated polls. Last week, a masked whistleblower nicknamed "Koala Boy" claimed that the two leading vice-presidential bets — Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay and Senator Manuel "Mar" Roxas — paid "players" to rig the results of the automated elections and that Binay allegedly paid more, explaining his lead in the tally of election returns. The House of Representatives has since started conducting hearings to get to the bottom of the poll fraud controversy. — GMANews.TV