‘Judicial’ legislation

It’s now all gloves off as the 90-day campaign period for candidates in the coming May 12 national elections officially started yesterday. As this idiom connotes, this means people are ready to fight, argue or compete without holding back. A total of 65 senatorial candidates and 155 party-list groups are running in the mid-term polls. Proclamation rallies were held in vote-rich areas in Metro Manila and in Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao.

On the eve of the onset of campaign fever, Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman George Garcia heaved a sigh of relief with the filling of two vacancies in the seven-man poll body. Last Monday, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. (PBBM) issued ad interim appointments to two career executives of the poll body who rose through the ranks to become Comelec commissioners.

Promoted were Comelec Law Department director Maria Norina Tangaro-Casingal and Comelec Ilocos Region regional director Noli Pipo. Casingal took over from retired Comelec commissioner Socorro Inting while Pipo replaced retired Commissioner Marlon Casquejo. The two new commissioners will serve a term of office expiring on Feb. 2, 2032. A much sought-after election lawyer before he accepted the job as Comelec chairman, Garcia attested to the impartiality and qualifications of the new poll body members joining them in their en banc sessions.

The two Comelec commissioners will hold their posts in “acting” capacity until such time their appointments hurdle the confirmation process of the Commission on Appointments (CA). That is, if PBBM will re-issue new appointments to the two “acting” Comelec commissioners.

Casingal has been working with the Comelec for 27 years and headed the Law Department since 2016. Casingal assumed her post last Monday and immediately buckled down to work on the same day she took her oath of office before the Comelec Chairman. After which, Garcia designated her to join the Comelec First Division to be Commissioner in charge of the Legal Department.

On the other hand, Pipo served as Comelec Ilocos Region regional director from 2006. He started his career with the Comelec as an election officer of Bangued, Abra in 1993. Pipo takes his oath today and will be assigned to join the Comelec Second Division.

Garcia was very thankful to PBBM for heeding the Comelec recommendation to promote “insiders,” or career executive officials of the Comelec organization. Being there and having dealt with these election matters, Garcia believes they can quickly and capably meet the demands of their higher posts now in the poll body.

Meanwhile, Garcia reminded anew candidates to strictly comply with all the electoral rules. As of this writing, three original senatorial wannabes have withdrawn one after the other their candidacies. Long before the campaign period started, ex-Ilocos Sur governor Luis “Chavit” Singson and Leo Marcos officially withdrew their respective certificates of candidacy (COCs). And just last Monday, Agri party list Rep. Wilbert Lee followed suit.

Speaking of withdrawals of candidacies, the Comelec chief deplored as “mockery” of the country’s electoral process by unscrupulous characters like Leo Marcos. In particular, Garcia fumed over the antics of Leo Marcos, who was among the Comelec-declared “nuisance” candidates. Out of a total of 43,033 aspirants who filed COCs last year, the Comelec removed 205 COCs as “nuisance” candidates.

Aside from obvious attempts to ride on the Marcos name, the Comelec deleted him from the official ballots along with other “nuisance” candidates found having no capability to embark on senatorial bids. He, along with a certain Subair Mustapha, were among the petitioners whom the Supreme Court (SC) granted temporary restraining orders (TROs) to stop the Comelec from proceeding with the senatorial elections without their names included in the official ballots. But soon after the High Court granted his petition, Leo Marcos officially withdrew his COC at the Comelec with the widest publicity for his stunt.

The TROs came after the Comelec had printed the first batch of 73 million ballots, starting with the local elections and first parliamentary polls in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). The TROs were issued in favor of 11 of 25 candidates whose names have been deleted from the ballots. The Comelec grudgingly complied with the SC-issued injunctions and suspended printing of ballots for almost a week despite a previously fixed deadline and schedule of the poll body.

According to him, the Comelec spent P140 million for six million ballots printed but are now stored in their warehouse in Sta. Rosa, Laguna. Garcia explained these printed ballots were being kept for safekeeping until final disposition along with other “spoiled” printed ballots that failed the security-quality tests.

“The Comelec followed because of the rule of law. Under the present administration, we respect the majesty of the Supreme Court up to how much we can comply,” Garcia pointed out.

The Comelec Chairman specifically cited Article VIII, Section 1 of our country’s 1987 Constitution establishing the judicial power of the country. Himself a former law professor, Garcia cited it verbatim: “The judicial power shall be vested in one Supreme Court and in such lower courts as may be established by law.”

During the Kapihan sa Manila Bay news forum last Wednesday, Garcia recited from memory the entire constitutional provision: “Judicial power includes the duty of the courts of justice to settle actual controversies involving rights which are legally demandable and enforceable, and to determine whether or not there has been a grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction on the part of any branch or instrumentality of the Government.”

In its past rulings, SC washed its hands off subject matters deemed not involving “justiciable” questions, including political controversies reaching them.

Garcia conceded this is the “catch-all” provision that empowers the SC to step beyond constitutional issues and even questions of laws passed by Congress. As a constitutionally independent quasi-judicial body, the Comelec is being squeezed on all sides when the separation of powers of equal branches of government become blurred when the SC exercises judicial legislation.