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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Sotto cites Comelec assurance vs cancellation of May polls

Sotto cites Comelec assurance vs cancellation of May polls

Published Jan 5, 2022 02:49 pm

"Sounds like a good assurance from Comelec (Commission on Elections),’’ Senate President Vicente C. Sotto III on Wednesday, Jan. 5 said.

Sotto issued the statement after a Comelec spokesman assured that the scheduled May, 2022 national and local elections would not be postponed .

The electoral body gave the assurance following an action of the Partido Demokratikong Pilipino (PDP-Laban party (Cusi) faction) to petition for the reopening of the period of filing for the May 2022 elections.

Despite the Comelec assurance, Sotto said ‘’the Senate is ready to uphold the Constitution (and) I’ve thought this over and prepared.’’

Also reacting, Senator Aquilino Pimentel III, chairman of the PDP-Laban (Pimentel wing) said:”Yes, we in the legitimate PDP LABAN will oppose any attempt at NO-EL (no elections).’’

Pimentel said the No-El scenario is being ‘’pushed by our very selfish public officials who myopically want to stay in power unconstitutionally.’’

He said it is ‘’really strange for them to think that they will be the ones allowed to stay in power during the “extension” and are ‘’blinded by power already... Ayaw ng bumitaw (They do not want to let go).’’

In a related development, the militant Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) has slammed the recent action of the PDP-Laban (Cusi faction) to petition the COMELEC to reopen the period for the filing of COCs for the 2022 national and local elections ‘’as an insidious attempt by unscrupulous politicians to ensure their hold on power at the expense of suffering Filipinos.’’

VACC president Arsenio Evangelista said that the petition smacks of naked political manipulation and unnecessary politicking in a critical period when the whole nation reels under the double-whammy of a gravely worsening pandemic and the urgent need for immediate socioeconomic assistance for millions struggling to fight the daily battle of survival in the central Philippine regions devastated by super typhoon Odette.

Evangelista said that even if the nation was not gripped by the twin tragedies, there was still no valid justification for the Cusi petition: “The deadline of October 8, 2021 was well known to every political aspirant and party organization well in advance and everyone had ample time to prepare. Individuals and groups prepared carefully and assiduously against these deadlines, and even great sacrifices were made. It would be terribly unfair for those who exerted great efforts and endured sacrifices to meet these deadlines, and for them to be told now that there are exceptions to these rules and an extension has to be made.”

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