Pampanga governor to seek TRO vs Comelec

SAN FERNANDO, Pam­panga – Beleaguered Gov. Eddie Panlilio will petition the Supreme Court to issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) after the Commission on Elections dimissed the petition of the governor to stop the recount of votes cast in the May 2007 elections in the province.

Panlilio said the Supreme Court would serve as “our beacon of hope” after the Comelec approved last Feb. 6 the plea of defeated gubernatorial candidate Lilia Pineda to recount votes cast for governor in the province.

“I view with disappointment the order issued by the Commission on Elections en banc denying my motion for  reconsideration, and its lifting of the order deferring the inventory and transmittal of the ballot boxes of the last elections,” Panlilio said in a statement.

The SC could be our hope in the electoral battle, said Panlilio, who won as an independent bet by 1,147 votes against Pineda who was the candidate of the Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (Kampi) party.

In its en banc resolution dated last Feb. 6, the Comelec denied for lack of merit Panlilio’s petition that was filed on Aug. 7 last year for the dismissal of Pineda’s election protest and set aside the order of the provincial election supervisor to defer the inventory, sealing and transmittal of the contested ballot boxes in involved in the case.

“It is not my victory that is at stake here.  The voices and victory of the Kapampangan voters seeking a true and good change in our government are at stake in this contest, specifically the reforms that I have introduced, and the hope that has pervaded the nation after my election into office,” Panlilio said.

Amid calls from some members of the Catholic Church to stage a “people power” to counter efforts to oust the governor from office, Panlilio said he believes that the mandate given to him by the voters is the expression of the true will of the people of Pampanga.

“God has made this possible, I trust in the same provident God to bless our province with the grace of truth,” Panlilio said.

There are also reports that Panlilio’s critics also plan to hold a recall elections to oust the governor, but  local opposition leaders have not started any move to recall which is allowed by the Local Government Code against any elected government official who has lost the confidence of the electorate.   – With Helen Flores