Muslim groups call on Congress to change composition of poll tribunals

MANILA, Philippines - Various concerned groups from Mindanao yesterday called on Congress to initiate changes in the composition of electoral tribunals that hear election-related protests and petitions.

Martin Gonzales, chairman of the National Multi-Sectoral Alliance for Peace and Development, led other groups in calling for the removal of politicians from the composition of the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET) and the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET).

Gonzales also included in their appeal to change the composition of the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET), a plenary composed of magistrates of the Supreme Court hearing electoral petitions against the president and the vice president.

Gonzales, along with Datu Amirol Ambiong, chairman of the National Muslim Peace and Order Council (Namupoc), called on Congress to restructure the composition of the electoral tribunals and remove its members who are politicians.

He said the move to remove politicians is to free the electoral tribunals from partisan politics.

Gonzales argued the presence of politicians in the electoral tribunals has delayed the resolutions of electoral protests filed by candidates.

He cited the election protest filed by Aquilino Pimentel III against Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri in the 2007 elections.

Gonzales said the election protest of Pimentel has yet to be decided by the SET more than three years after he had filed it.

“We need changes in the electoral tribunal. The agencies concerned must immediately give solutions to the problems of the losers and winners in the elections. They act slowly,” he said.

Gonzales also argued Mindanaoans have no voice in the Senate since none of the senators at present are from Mindanao.

“Attorney Koko Pimentel is our only chance to get a voice in the Senate. There must be an amendment in the electoral tribunal,” he said.

Gonzales said that at present, there are 127 election protest cases still pending.

“In most cases, the election protests are given decisions when the term of office of the candidates concerned have already lapsed,” he said.

Gonzales also urged the Commission on Elections (Comelec) not to immediately declare winners if they have pending cases of election protests.

Gonzales stressed their call to remove politicians would free the electoral tribunals from political intervention.

Gonzales said the electoral tribunals must have a timetable to conclude all pending electoral protests.

“The Constitution should also provide the period within which to decide and dispose of election protests and cases, and failure to do so by the Electoral Tribunals, by a regular court as well as the Commission on Elections would be a ground for their impeachment or removal from office, as the case may be,” he said.

Gonzales said the restructuring of the electoral tribunals would also address the issue of disenfranchisement of voters.

Ambiong added election protests suffer from “unreasonable delay.”

“And when the disposition of the election protests is unreasonably delayed, justice is denied not only to the protestants but also denied to the electorate that our electoral tribunals must avoid in the interest of democracy and morality,” he said.

Ambiong said the people of Mindanao believe that Pimentel won against Zubiri in the 2007 elections.

He also cited the case of Sen. Loren Legarda against former Vice President Noli de Castro in the 2004 elections.

Ambiong said the immediate resolution of election protest is for the benefit of both parties as all of them could save time and resources in pursuing their cases.

Ernesto Pamaong, executive director of the National Multi-Sectoral Alliance for Peace and Development (NMAPD), said politician members of the electoral tribunals are “unavoidably and inevitably partisan.”

“The electoral processes in the Philippines are unique in the sense that election protests... are lodged and decided upon by the electoral tribunals whose majority members are chosen from among members of Congress,” he said.