Comelec asked to refund P3.7M worth of filing fees

An anti-graft group on Monday asked the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to immediately refund at least P3.7 million in filing fees for failure to resolve 37 electoral protests from the 2007 elections. Of the 37 electoral protests from the 2007 polls, eight remain pending at the Commission en banc, the Center for Anti-Graft and Corruption Prevention, Inc. said. The other 29 are currently filed at the Comelec Electoral Contests Adjudication Division (ECAD), the group’s secretary-general Lane Afable said. The poll body's failure to resolve the cases have caused aggrieved parties to spend P100,000 each in filing fees only to get "hijacked" with the non-resolution of their complaints on time, he added. "[The] Comelec has to return it [the money] because we believe [they] did not render their duties to finish it [the cases]," he told reporters in an interview on Monday He said the poll body violated paragraph (e), Section 3 of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act which says that it is unlawful for government officials and employees to "(cause) any undue injury to any party, including the Government, or giving any private party any unwarranted benefits, advantage or preference in the discharge of his official administrative or judicial functions through manifest partiality, evident bad faith or gross inexcusable negligence." He also said that the Comelec is guilty of violating paragraphs (c) and (e), Section 4 of the RA 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards of Public Officials and Employees. Under the said law, public officials and employees "shall remain true to the people at all times" and "shall extend prompt, courteous, and adequate service to the public." "We would like them to look back at these laws para matignan nila kung san sila nagkamali (so that they'll see where they went wrong)," he said. He said they are also looking into the protest cases filed from 1998, 2001, and 2004 elections. "They have that repetitive record of not completing protest [cases but] they have huge resources to be utilized for protest and it is not an excuse for them," he said. ECAD director Betty Pizana refused to comment on the matter. However, she noted that if Afable really wants to get the refund, he should file a petition with the Comelec en banc. Comelec spokesman James Jimenez, for his part, said that "most likely" there will be no refund. "The filing fees are not for services rendered as such. They are for administrative costs which have already been incurred and paid for," he told reporters in a separate interview on Monday. — RJAB Jr./RSJ, GMANews.TV