Demetriou: Not even Erap brod can influence poll body

Commission on Elections chairperson Harriet Demetriou said nobody can influence the decisions of the poll body, not even a brother of President Estrada who is reportedly acting as legal counsel of the mayor of Lucena City whose recall is being sought.

"We don't recognize personalities in the Comelec. We only recognize the merits of the case," Demetriou told reporters.

But in fairness to lawyer Paulino Ejercito, the President's brother and legal counsel of Lucena Mayor Bernardo Tagarao, Demetriou said in a statement that he (Ejercito) "has never gone to my office or any of the offices of the commissioners nor talked to anyone of us" regarding the recall petition against Tagarao.

"Let it be emphasized that here at the Comelec, no one is above the law and all cases are decided not on the basis of the personalities involved, but on the merits of the issues or claims raised as supported by the record of each particular case," she added.

Demetriou added that the Comelec en banc will approve the recall petition against Tagarao if the preparatory recall assembly (PRA) complies with the requirements and not because Atty. Ejercito "happens to be the brother of President Estrada and the godson of Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo."

She added: "This is beside the point, and in truth and in fact, Atty. Ejercito has never even attempted to influence the chairman and the commissioners to resolve the case in his client's favor."

Last Monday, more than 300 residents of Lucena City staged a rally in front of the Comelec building in Intramuros, Manila to demand Tagarao's recall.

The PRA formally filed the petition for the recall of 29-year-old Tagarao on July 16 last year. The PRA head, barangay chairman Donato Rodas, claimed Lucena residents have lost their trust in Tagarao for allegedly failing to fulfill his promises to improve the city.

Rodas said Tagarao won in 1998 because the city folk thought he would live up to the good track record of his father Mario who served as mayor for 21 years.

The PRA leaders admitted though that there may not be enough time to hold a recall election which, if approved, should be conducted before April 15, a year before the national polls.

Lawyer Esmeralda Ladra, Demetriou's chief of staff, said the Comelec en banc will do its best to decide on Tagarao's case soonest.