Melo: Comelec must wait for SC decision on Kabunsuan gov row

Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Jose Melo said he would rather wait for the Supreme Court to decide whether or not the poll body erred in its previous ruling on electoral protests involving the gubernatorial contest in Shariff Kabunsuan.

The governorship is being disputed by Datu Bimbo Sinsuat Jr. and Datu Tucao Mastura who are both claiming to have won the race in last year’s elections.

Sinsuat has filed a petition with the Supreme Court, seeking a temporary restraining order (TRO) or a status quo against an earlier Comelec ruling ordering the canvassing of votes in Shariff Kabunsuan to continue.

Sinsuat and Mastura both filed their respective electoral protests with the Comelec, which is set to hold a hearing this Wednesday.

In his dissenting opinion, Melo said that in view of Sinsuat’s petition with the Supreme Court, he “would rather defer to its action in this regard.”

“It appearing that petitioner Sinsuat has elevated the issue of canvass and its necessary consequences, proclamation, to the Supreme Court, out of prudence and respect for the Supreme Court in which I sat for close to 10 years, I would rather defer to its action in this regard,” he said.

Melo added that the high tribunal did not issue a TRO but it nonetheless required the respondents to file a comment on the petition.

“Moreover, it seems that this commission has not been consistent in its rulings, stating in one case that an appeal was filed out of time and ruling in another case to suspend the rules so as to accommodate the late appeal. Too, there are some election returns which are under question and it appears that not all votes have been canvassed,” Melo said in his dissenting opinion.

Melo argued that the action of the majority of the Comelec “in jumping the gun, so to speak, on our highest court may render moot said issues.”

Whoever wins the dispute stands to become the first elected governor of Shariff Kabunsuan, which was created only in 2006. The province used to be part of Maguindanao.

The pending case was reportedly linked to the killings of lawyers Alioden Dalaig and Wynne Asdala, successive heads of Comelec’s law department, in November last year and last March, respectively.

There is talk in the Comelec that an official or a lawyer would be liquidated every two months until the poll body finally decides on the gubernatorial dispute.