‘I don’t question Tuason’s integrity’

SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga – Election lawyer Romulo Macalintal clarified yesterday that he was not questioning the integrity of Commission on Elections (Comelec) Commissioner Florentino Tuason Jr. in signing a resolution allowing a revision of all ballots cast in the Pampanga gubernatorial race last May 14.

“In fairness to Commissioner Tuason Jr., we are not accusing him of being a party to any irregularity. He is one who enjoys the respect and admiration of election lawyers,” Macalintal told The STAR yesterday.

Tuason is the presiding officer of the Comelec’s second division which approved the revision proceedings.

The other day, Macalintal said there was “something fishy” in what he described as apparent haste in issuing the resolution favoring former provincial board member Lilia Pineda, who lost to priest-turned-politician Eddie Panlilio by only 1,147 votes (not 647 votes as previously reported).

In a statement faxed to The STAR, Tuason said it was “improper” for Macalintal to say that the resolution was issued in haste and “without the necessary consultation” with the other members of the second division.

“For your information and in order to disabuse the minds of the reading public of Atty. Macalintal’s false and malicious information, the motion for reconsideration by Gov. Panlilio was only a rehash of his answer,” Tuason said.

He stressed that all three members of the second division signed the July 23 order for the retrieval and collection of ballot boxes, which was the subject of Panlilio’s motion for reconsideration.

“Which means all issues raised in Gov. Panlilio’s answer (as repeated in his motion for reconsideration) were first deliberated upon and the decision to collect was a concurrence of all the division’s members,” he said.

Tuason quoted Paragraph (d) of Section 6, Rule 2 of the Comelec rules of procedure as stating that he, as a presiding commissioner of a division, is “authorized to sign interlocutory orders.”

He added that motions on interlocutory orders of the division “shall also be resolved by the division which issued the order,” as provided for under Paragraph (e) of Section 5, Rule 3 of the Comelec rules of procedure.

Macalintal and fellow election lawyers Sixto Brillantes Jr., Leila de Lima, Pete Quadra and Ernesto Francisco Jr. – who have offered their legal services to Panlilio for free – filed the motion to dismiss Pineda’s protest.

“What we raised was the apparent haste and speed of his (Tuason’s) staff and possibly other Comelec personnel in denying Panlilio’s motion without referring to the (Comelec) en banc,” Macalintal said.

He earlier said Comelec personnel to be tapped in the revision of ballots from Pampanga’s 4,487 polling precincts stand to earn P2.3 million in honoraria, on top of the regular salaries.

“We are making it clear that it is not Tuason who will earn extra honorarium in the revision proceedings, but some personnel assigned as heads of revision teams, recorders, typists, ballot box custodians, and revisors of both parties,” Macalintal said.

He said the revision of ballots would likely require seven teams.

While the P2.3 million to be deposited by Pineda would go to Comelec personnel to be assigned in the revision process, Makalintal said Panlilio would have to hire his own people.

“I reckon Gov. Panlilio would have to shell out no less than P5 million for the salaries (of these people) and other needs such as tens of thousands of documents that have to be photocopied,” he said.

Macalintal urged the Comelec to examine its policies in granting petitions for revision of ballots.

“This is not only for Gov. Panlilio. This is a fight that we hope would lead the Comelec to be more discerning in deciding protest cases which are clearly frivolous and which will be very damaging to a poor candidate who won fair and square, but who cannot sustain expenses in revision proceedings,” he added.

Panlilio, who used to be the parish priest of Betis in Guagua town, ran his campaign solely on donations from supporters.