The Commission on Elections (Comelec) assured on Thursday, Nov. 24 that it would conduct proper and timely publishing of its calendar of events as members of the poll body were held in contempt by the Supreme Court (SC).
This was after the poll body failed to implement the court’s Jan. 20, 2022 restraining order which stated the inclusion of Wilson Caritero Amad in the printing of the ballots as a candidate for vice president in the recent May 2022 elections.
In a statement released by Comelec spokesman John Rex Laudiangco, he said that despite the contempt and reprimand in SC's decision, Comelec accepts it as well as the recommendations of the court.
In a July 5 decision that was released on Nov. 22, the SC ruled that the members of the Comelec (on Jan. 20, 2022) “are found guilty of contempt of the Supreme Court for their disobedience to the Court’s lawful directive, specifically the Temporary Restraining Order dated Jan. 20, 2022. Accordingly, they are REPRIMANDED for this disobedience.” SC's ruling was issued on the petition of Amad against Dec. 13, 2021, and Jan. 3, 2022 resolutions of the Comelec which declared him a “nuisance candidate”, and then canceled his certificate of candidacy (COC), and disqualified him in the election for the position of vice president.
Based on the SC decision, the members of the Comelec en banc (full commission) who issued the Jan. 3, 2022 ruling were Chairman Sheriff M. Abas, who wrote the resolution, and Commissioners Ma. Rowena Amelia V. Guanzon, Socorro B. lnting, Marlon S. Casquejo, Antonio T. Kho Jr., and Aimee P. Ferolino, concurring.
"Noteworthy is the fact that the schedule of printing of official ballots and the other pre-election activities were not included in the COMELEC's calendar of events as indicated in COMELEC Resolution No. 10695 dated February 10, 2021," SC stated.
"Thus, interested parties, such as Amad, were not made aware of the COMELEC's timeline, which, incidentally, overlapped with the prescribed periods within which Amad could validly question the COMELEC's rulings against him. Resultantly, Amad and other aggrieved parties, while availing their statutory · remedies before the Court, had their cases rendered moot," it explained.
Laudiangco stated that even before SC's decision came out, part of Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia's plan is to publish through their resolution the calendar of activities which includes:
- Early deadline for the filing of petitions for the cancellation/denial of due course of certificates of candidacy, disqualification, nuisance candidates, registration of political parties and party-list groups;
- Early deadline in resolving the said petitions;
- The final date on the printing of official ballots including the accountable and non-accountable forms.
Laudiangco also stated that the official calendar of events would then be sent as a guide to the Supreme Court and the public.