Comelec verifies Mitra recall petition signatures

MANILA, Philippines - The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will create a committee to verify the signatures in the recall petition against Palawan Gov. Abraham Mitra.

Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said the verification is the second stage in a recall election after the poll body had determined that the petition is sufficient in form and substance.          

“We need to do this to make sure that those who signed the recall petition are registered voters in the areas to be affected by the recall election. This is a standard procedure because we don’t want signatories that do not come from the areas involved in a recall,” he said.

The recall petition has at least 158,000 signatories.

Jimenez said the panel does not have to verify all the signatures. He said the poll body would set the recall election once the committee has verified that the signatures were from 10 percent of the 535,279 registered voters in Palawan.

He said the recall elections would be held not later than one year preceding the next election or before the mid-term polls scheduled on May 13, 2013.

Last October, the Comelec has found sufficient grounds in the recall petition filed by Kilusang Love Malampaya against Mitra. The group accused Mitra of compromising the province’s interest when he accepted Malacañang’s offer of a smaller share in royalties paid by Malampaya for operating a natural gas project off northern Palawan.

The group said it has lost trust and confidence in Mitra because he “failed on many aspects to respond to their (Palaweños’) expectations and welfare.”

Mitra filed a motion for reconsideration but the poll body denied it.