Abalos back at work, faces tough week

After resting for more than a week due to illness, Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Benjamin Abalos will report back to work today with electoral cases piling up on his desk.

Commissioner Resurreccion Borra said Abalos was supposed to show up yesterday but decided to extend his vacation for another day.

"The chairman has been released from the hospital, and he is expected to attend the executive session (this afternoon)," he said.

Abalos has been on sick leave since June 12 upon the advice of his doctors.

Before the May 10 elections, Abalos had collapsed, and he was taken to the hospital and treated for intestinal bleeding.

Not yet fully recovered, he reported back to work to supervise the elections.

On June 12, he was taken to the hospital again after suffering a relapse.

Doctors advised him to get a complete rest to avoid another relapse.

During his absence, Comelec employees staged a mass walkout to dramatize their demand for an audit of the poll body’s funds, including P4.7 billion allocated for the last elections.

The employees said they have not been receiving their salaries, and when they confronted finance director Eduardo Mejos, they were told that the poll body had run out of funds.

Borra said yesterday Mejos was given until Friday to submit a report on the financial status of the Comelec.

He said the commission en banc will look into any culpability of Mejos and take action based on the report he would submit.

Mejos will face sanctions if he is proven to have failed to manage the finances of the poll body, he added.

Mejos joined the Comelec when Abalos was named the agency’s chairman.

He served as finance officer of the Metro Manila Development Authority when it was headed by Abalos. — Mayen Jaymalin