Palace defends Comelec executives appointment

MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang defended yesterday the appointment of Commission on Elections (Comelec) Commissioner Aimee Torrefranca-Neri amid a bribery allegation against her.

“The appointment of Commission on Elections Commissioner Aimee Neri is a presidential prerogative. The commissioner is the personal choice of the President, having served as the President’s lawyer in the genders office in Davao. Her appointment went through a vetting process,” acting presidential spokesman Martin Andanar said at a media briefing.

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon on Monday urged Neri to resign from the post as the allegation against her could affect the integrity of the Comelec.

He said Neri must “resign in order to save herself, the President and the poll body from embarrassment and unnecessary distraction that could affect the integrity of the 2022 presidential elections.”

Drilon was referring to the allegation by lawyer Ferdinand Topacio that his client Herbert Colanggo gave Neri, then assistant secretary of the Department of Justice, P10 million to “fix his robbery case before the Supreme Court.”

Neri still has to pass the Commission on Appointments, which Drilon is a part of.

“I am telling attorney Neri that whoever your MBA or ‘May Backer Ako’ is, he cannot influence the CA to set aside these allegations and confirm your appointment. The Commission on Appointments takes this matter seriously,” Drilon said.

Random sampling

The camp of presidential candidate Vice President Leni Robredo asked the Comelec to conduct random sampling to test and examine the printed official ballots that will be used in the May 9 polls ahead of election day.

Robredo’s lawyer Romulo Macalintal, in a two-page statement, said that they suggested to the Comelec to focus on at least five important aspects, including the random sampling of ballots before private witnesses.

Macalintal said there is a need for this since Comelec has already printed 73 percent of the sample ballots without inviting any witnesses.

“These randomly selected ballots will be verified and examined by said representatives of the parties to determine if they contain all the security features as required by the law and will be fed into the vote-counting machines to find out if said ballots would be recognized by these machines,” he said. – Robertzon Ramirez