SC won't stop Pasay recall polls

Pasay City's recall elections will push through tomorrow after the Supreme Court, voting 8-6, junked yesterday a petition of incumbent Mayor Jovito Claudio to stop the polls.

Claudio, through his lawyer Pete Quirino Quadra, had argued that holding the elections would be unconstitutional because Congress had not set aside funds for the purpose.

The Pasay elections is a four-cornered race among Claudio, former Vice Mayor Wenceslao "Peewee" Trinidad, former police captain Ricardo "Ding" Santos who is a former bodyguard of former Pasay City Mayor Pablo Cuneta; and independent candidate Romulo Marcelo.

Quadra contended that the Commission on Elections (Comelec) would violate the Constitution if it uses the P74-million fund it requested from the presidential contingency fund since Congress only allocated P1 million for any recall elections this year.

But Solicitor General Ricardo Galvez, representing the Comelec, said the elections could still push through even if the Office of the President turned down the P74-million fund request because the Comelec still has savings of P43 million which was discovered recently.

"Even without the P74 million, the Comelec can still hold the recall elections," Galvez said. "The contingent fund is not actually a contingent fund but it is a general contingent fund. It's a lump sum never appropriated solely for the OP. It may be utilized for many other purposes."

During the two-hour hearing, Quadra reiterated the Comelec's action "undermines its independent character" as its savings were deemed "reverted to the National Treasury" when it did not use these funds for the purpose.

Rebutting Quadra's point, constitutional expert Justice Vicente Mendoza said the Comelec, like any other constitutional commission, has the authority to use its savings since these are not reverted to the government coffers.

Quadra conceded that he didn't know of the "joint resolution" forged by the constitutional bodies which allows them to use their savings, and these shall "remain valid until fully spent," as argued by Mendoza.

Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr., a former Comelec chairman, said the poll body enjoys "fiscal autonomy" and that it can "hold the remaining balance (savings)" it pleases. "They have enough savings," he said.

Meanwhile, the Comelec has imposed starting today a ban on the sale of liquior within Pasay City.

Those caught selling liquor during the prohibition will face one to six years of imprisonment. -- With Sandy Araneta