Asistios vow to block proclamation

The Asistios vowed yesterday to exhaust all possible means to block the proclamation of Caloocan City’s winning candidates today, including the filing of an impeachment case against the poll body’s chairman.

"We will file an impeachment case against Benipayo once the poll body pushes through with the proclamation," lawyer Reynaldo Robles, the Asistios’ counsel said.

Robles claimed that the Commission on Elections (Comelec’s) plans of proclaiming the winning candidates of the May 14 and 15 elections in Caloocan City are illegal.

"The canvassing is not yet over, there are still around 120 precincts to be accounted for. How could they (Comelec) proceed with the proclamation?" Robles asked.

The Comelec en banc, led by Chairman Alfredo Benipayo, junked recently the petition filed by the Asistios to declare a failure of elections in Caloocan City because of massive fraud.

The decision paved the way for the proclamation of OIC Mayor Reynaldo Malonzo and the other winning candidates.

On Aug. 28, the Comelec en banc ordered the Caloocan City Board of Canvassers to reconvene and proclaim the winning candidates in the congressional and local elections.

In a two-page decision, the Comelec en banc stated that ". . .there being no restraining order or injunction from the Supreme Court and in conformity with the Rules of the Commission, the City Board of Canvassers of Caloocan City is hereby ordered to reconvene with notice to all parties and to proclaim the winning candidates in the May 14, 2001 congressional and local elections."

The City Board of Canvassers is set to reconvene today at around 9 a.m. at the Comelec central office in Intramuros, Manila.

Robles, however, said that the planned proclamation could not push through as they have filed Friday a petition for certiorari, prohibition and injunction aimed at blocking the event.