Judge gives green light for National Press Club polls

New members of the National Press Club (NPC) can participate in the May 5 election of officers.

Manila Judge Artemio Tipon junked the petition seeking a temporary restraining order (TRO) to prevent the NPC from allowing 209 new members from casting their votes in the elections on Sunday.

Tipon, however, directed the NPC to prevent new members from voting if they failed to settle their membership dues last April 10.

"The NPC-membership committee is directed to submit on May 3 names of the new members who paid their membership dues in full as of April 10, 2002 to enable the court to determine who shall be allowed to vote at the Sunday elections," Tipon said in a four-page order.

The judge saw valid ground for preventing applicants from voting if they had only made partial payments. "The articles and by-laws do not provide for full membership of an applicant who does not pay in full the fees required of him," the judge ruled.

In denying the petition filed by Wilma Yamzon of the Manila Bulletin, Tipon took note of the NPC’s articles of incorporation and by-laws, which "gives ample power to the president in selecting members of the membership committee."

Yamzon accused the incumbent officers of NPC of "maneuvering to rig forthcoming elections in their favor."

She also deplored the move of the NPC-membership committee of cutting short the date of acceptance of new members to March 31, 2002 from the usual last week of the month of April or on the day of the election itself. – Cecille Suerte Felipe