NEWS: Comelec unseats Panlilio as Pampanga governor

[ghosthunter]

It was not totally unexpected but ....

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/183660/c...panga-governor

[SIZE="5"]Comelec unseats Panlilio as Pampanga governor[/SIZE]
KIMBERLY JANE T. TAN, GMANews.TV
02/11/2010 | 02:47 PM

(Updated 4:25 p.m.) The Commission on Elections (Comelec) Second Division on Thursday unseated Pampanga Governor Ed Panlilio, the third Liberal Party (LP) local executive to receive the axe from the poll body.

In a 11,000-page promulgation, the poll body division declared former provincial board member Lilia Pineda as the rightful governor of Pampanga.

“We find sufficient merit in this protest case… we hereby resolve Lilia Pineda is the duly recognized governor of Pampanga," the poll body said.

Pineda lost to Panlilio in 2007 by a margin of 1,147 votes and accused the winning politician-priest of cheating and initiated recount proceedings against him with the Comelec.

In its ruling, the second division said Pineda got 190,729 votes while Panlilio got 188,718 votes, a margin of 2,011. But Commissioner Lucenito Tagle, in his concurring opinion, said that Pineda won by only 356 votes.

Panlilio was therefore been ordered to vacate the post and allow Pineda to assume the gubernatorial post.

Pineda is the wife of businessman Rodolfo “Bong" Pineda, a well-known financier and staunch ally of President Arroyo.

Expected

Panlilio’s camp was not surprised with the decision. His lawyer, Sixto Brillantes, had even said in the past that he was not confident that the Comelec would rule in favor of his client.

Panlilio, who was present during the promulgation, accused the Comelec of denying their motions and requests since October.

"Gusto lang naman namin ipairal ang karapatan namin na magkaroon ng mas masusing pag-revision sa mga balota (We just wanted to exercise our right to have a thorough revision of the ballots)," he told reporters.

He added that they were not allowed to see the basis for the results of the findings of the poll body.

"Itong mga nangyari na ito has been leading us to think that we will not get fair treatment of this case (These events have been leading us to think that we will not get fair treatment of this case)," he said.

Challenge

The Comelec gave Panlilio five days to file a motion for reconsideration before the case is elevated to to the Comelec en banc.

Brillantes said that they will definitely file the motion, but added that the poll body en banc must also make sure to read the 11,000-page resolution of the second division.

"Basahin naman nila yung decision ng division para alam nila ano ang tama at ano ang mali (They should read the decision of the division so that they will know what's right from what's wrong)," he said.

If they don't, he said that the commission will be "rendering an unjust judgment against the governor."

"I hope they will be able to finish this by May 2010," he said.

Pineda's legal counsel George Erwin Garcia, on the other hand, said they would file a motion for execution pending a motion for reconsideration after they have likewise read the 11,000-page decision.

Confident

Panlilio said that he is confident that if the matter reaches the SC, the high tribunal would overturn the decision.

"Ganun ang paniniwala namin ever since, kami ang panalo by a slim margin (We have always believed that we are the winners, although be a slim margin)," he said.

He denied Pineda's accusations that he committed fraud in the 2007 elections.

"Ang isang pari ay walang kakayanhan na mang-harass. Ang isang kandidatong walang partido noong 2007, walang makinarya ay walang kakayahang mandaya at mabili ng boto (A priest does not have the capability to harass. A candidate without a party and without a machinery does not have the capability to cheat and buy votes)," he said.

The priest-turned-politician even said that if there was someone capable of such acts, it was the former provincial board member.

"Itong mga bagay na ito ay hindi ko naman ginawa, sa katunayan nga sila ang gumawa nito noong panahon ng kampanya (I did not do these things, in truth it's the camp of Pineda that committed these acts during the campaign period)," he said.

Panlilio not alone

Critics of the Comelec had also foreseen this outcome after the poll body unseated Panlilio’s fellow Liberal Party governors Jonjon Mendoza of Bulacan and Grace Padaca of Isabela.

The LP had earlier criticized the Arroyo administration for its alleged “vendetta politics" against the three governors.

The poll body has denied the accusation.

Mendoza was unseated after his Partido del Pilar coalesced with the LP for the 2010 polls.

Both Padaca and Panlilio have sworn support for LP standard bearer Sen. Benigno Simeon “Noynoy" Aquino III in the May elections.

But Ferrer had earlier said that the recount cases against the three governors had been filed even before they joined LP, whose presidential and vice president bets, Aquino and Manuel Roxas II, have been leading the surveys.

He added that if there are those who are not satisfied with their decision, they can always appeal to the Comelec en banc – which both Mendoza and Padaca have already done.

On Wednesday, the Comelec First Division also disqualified LP bet Mitra as a gubernatorial candidate in Palawan in the 2010 polls. - RJAB Jr./KBK, GMANews.TV

[lenlen]

GMA is really a dirty politician.

Grace, Jon Jon, and now Among Ed.

She wants her "dogs" to sit on every critical positions to make sure her "pet" villar will win the election.

She is a true evil personified.

[chua_riwap]

Si Binay naman isunod.......

[jut703]

I don't get it. They start falsifying the initial ballot counts only now, 2 and a half years after the 2007 elections and a couple of months before the 2010 elections. And yet no one has been reacting publicly about this suspicious affair.

[chrismarte]

last week yung sa Palawan na candidate for Governor ang dinisqualify nila. Take note, also LP bet din...

Conspiracy theory na siguro to kung totoo yung sinasabi ai "Villaroyo"

[OTEP]

Ed Panlilio didn't even have an effective political machinery when he ran. And now her opponent Pineda accuses him of cheating?

Who has the resources and the motive to cheat between these two? hmm...

[batang_raon14]

all I can say is "sigh" when I read this...

[oliver1013]

Yung pari dinaya yung jueteng lord? hahaha

loko rin tong si Father madaya

[mikmik316]

Jon Jon Mendoza and Josie Mendoza de la Cruz ay mga kakampi ni GMA.

Talagang dinaya lang nila si Pagdanganan, na maka-GMA rin.

Ganyan ang laban sa Bulacan nung 2007. Lakas-Kampi vs. Lakas-Kampi o Lakas vs. Kampi.

Gumamit ng Pera at Goons si Josie de la Cruz para ma-pwesto kapatid nya na isang baranggay official lang dati!

[CVT]

Kung baga sa bilyar,- plesing.....

9303:grin2:

[badsekktor]

among ed doesnt have the money nor the machinery to push a campaign last elections so how could he cheat? I am begining to think that comelec is compromised.......

Jon Jon Mendoza and Josie Mendoza de la Cruz ay mga kakampi ni GMA.

Talagang dinaya lang nila si Pagdanganan, na maka-GMA rin.

Ganyan ang laban sa Bulacan nung 2007. Lakas-Kampi vs. Lakas-Kampi o Lakas vs. Kampi.

Gumamit ng Pera at Goons si Josie de la Cruz para ma-pwesto kapatid nya na isang baranggay official lang dati!

3 sana sila maglalaban kaso sa pagkakaalam ko nakiusap si Obet kay Villarama (Vice Gov) Which is much better option than those 2. Si Obet eh mahina na sa bulacan dahil sa kapatid nya at sa mga rumors ng corruption niya (Katas daw yun North Bel Air subd)

About the Mendoza's....... Swerte nila yun lang inabot nila..... mainit din yan sa palasyo sa pagkakaalam ko.....

Natatawa lang ako since si Josie ang apprentice ni Obet before pa naupo na Gov si Josie saka pareho style ni Obet, Josie at ni Jonjon, usually 4 or 3 sa convoy yan, pare-parehong SUV na may wangwang at blinker at hari ng kalsada.

[Gerbo]

Di ba Comelec and nagbibilang sa eleksyon at nag-proclaimed kon sino nanalo?

Ibig ba sabihin hindi sila marunong magbilang noon?

[Zeus]

Binayaran na siguro ang mga taga Comelec...

[CVT]

I am really disenchanted by this development.....

9303:grin2:

[chua_riwap]

Parang wala na atang interes si Pineda na umupo. Di nagmamadali. Sabi nya, 2 buwan na lang, kaya walang gulo sa Kapitolyo.........

[ghosthunter]

Parang wala na atang interes si Pineda na umupo. Di nagmamadali. Sabi nya, 2 buwan na lang, kaya walang gulo sa Kapitolyo.........

Well, Panlilio can/will file his legal protest and that will take time. More time than the two months left for Pineda.

[jjmd3_787]

It's what they call the LP massacre . . . yep, Mendoza-Panlilio-Padaca are all under the Liberal Party flag.

. . . hindi ba masyadong obvious, Nicodemus Ferrer? Dapat hindi si Atty. Pamatong ang ikinulong e . . . dapat kayo!

[james00112233]

Well, Panlilio can/will file his legal protest and that will take time. More time than the two months left for Pineda.

hopefully ganun nga ang mangyayari... dahil kung hindi, malamang sure-ball na si pandak dun....

[chua_riwap]

Si Mark Lapid daw ang tunay na nanalo sa recount sa Pampanga?




http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquire...er-in-Pampanga

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO—And the winner is—Mark Lapid!

Too bad Lapid is not allowed to claim the post of governor of Pampanga although he won the biggest number of votes in the recount of the ballots cast in the 2007 gubernatorial contest.

Lawyers said Lapid, the reelectionist governor, was not a party to the recount case, whose result was announced by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) Feb. 11, and could not invoke victory.

Only the losers—Gov. Eddie Panlilio and former Board Member Lilia Pineda—can.

The recount conducted by the Comelec second division showed that Pineda received 190,729 votes, Panlilio 188,718 and Lapid, 210,875 votes.

In the 2007 race, Lapid had placed third among six candidates.

Lapid, a movie actor and son of Sen. Manuel “Lito” Lapid, is now head of the Philippine Tourism Authority.

Lawyer Temie Lambino, Comelec provincial supervisor, said only the votes cast for Panlilio and Pineda were officially revised.

“Mr. Lapid was not a party to the case so his votes had not been revised,” Lambino told the Inquirer.

He said that Lapid did not file a petition for a recount within 10 days after the proclamation of the winner according to the election rules.

The former governor had conceded to Panlilio, a Catholic priest, on the second night of the provincial canvassing of votes in 2007.

Paul Tristan Laus, Lapid’s running mate in the 2007 election, said his friend had “not given the issue a thought.”

Lapid is not running for governor this May. His father, also an actor-turned-politician, backed out of the gubernatorial race, opting to seek reelection.

That left Panlilio of the Liberal Party and Pineda of Lakas-Kampi-CMD in a rematch. The third candidate, Ricardo Ocampo, is an independent.

Namfrel count

The Comelec recount has prompted questions from Panlilio and Pineda.

Panlilio wanted the Comelec to explain how he lost the 30,988 votes from his 2007 tally.

The numbers in the recount were also confusing when the tally was reviewed against those of the National Citizen’s Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) in Pampanga.

The Namfrel report on the 2007 polls showed that the province had 1,125,810 registered voters, lower than Comelec’s record of 1,128,411 voters.

In its tabulation in 5,606 (98.85 percent) of 5,671 precincts, Namfrel said those who actually voted totaled 762,448. The Comelec count of actual voters, however, was 779,100.

The Namfrel report showed that Panlilio garnered 218,571 votes; Pineda, 216,788; and Lapid, 206,789.

A Namfrel staff member wondered why the votes in the recount were lower.

“Shouldn’t the numbers for Pineda go up since she said that votes with her nickname, ‘Nanay Baby,’ were not counted before? The count is over but the votes are lacking?” said the staff, who asked not to be named for lack of authority to speak on the issue.

Motion of execution

Pineda’s lawyer, George Irwin Garcia, filed a motion for execution after the results of the recount were announced.

Panlilio’s lawyer, Sixto Brillantes, sought a motion for reconsideration. He said more than 4,500 ballots written with “Among” or “Ed” have not been counted in Panlilio’s favor.

During a protest rally on Wednesday, about 1,000 Panlilio supporters pelted with tomatoes a tarpaulin showing the images of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Pineda and Nicodemo Ferrer, Comelec second division chair.

“The Comelec second division has failed to honestly perform its mandate,” said Arnel Manliclic, Kapampangan Kontra Recount spokesperson. “In so doing, it did not respect the facts. In fact, it bastardized the truth,” Manliclic said. With a report from Charlene Cayabyab, Inquirer Central Luzon

[explorer]

www.inquirer.net

[SIZE="3"]Mark Lapid told: You’re using Grade 1 arithmetic[/SIZE]

By Kristine L. Alave, Tonette Orejas
Central Luzon Desk, Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 03:02:00 02/20/2010

Maybe he used Grade 1 arithmetic.

Election Commissioner Nicodemo Ferrer burst into laughter when told that some quarters believed that Mark Lapid, one of the losing candidates in the three-way Pampanga gubernatorial race in 2007 was the rightful victor in the election held three years ago.

“Maybe we can surmise that he was using Grade 1 arithmetic methods. He adds the votes of [Pampanga Gov. Eddie] Panlilio and [Lilia] Pineda and the total, you subtract from the number of those who voted. Maybe he thinks the balance was for him,” Ferrer said in an interview Friday.

“I took it as entertainment from a politician,” he added.

Ferrer, who was in charge of the recount, said they did not even count Lapid’s votes, as he had not filed an electoral complaint.

The recount conducted by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) Second Division ruled that Panlilio got fewer votes than Pineda.

No legal right to intervene

The Second Division said the recount, which started in August 2009, showed that Pineda received 190,729 or 2,011 more votes than Panlilio, who got 188,718 votes.

In the original 2007 count, Panlilio received 219,706 or 1,147 more votes than Pineda’s 218,559 votes. Lapid placed third with 210, 875 votes.

Pineda filed an electoral complaint immediately after the May 2007 elections but Lapid did not.

Ferrer said Lapid had no legal right to intervene in the electoral feud between Pineda and Panlilio.

‘I feel vindicated’

Meanwhile, Lapid, the actor-turned-politician, now head of the Philippine Tourism Authority, said on Friday he would not snatch the gubernatorial post from Panlilio or Pineda.

“I feel vindicated,” Lapid told the Central Luzon-based radio station dwRW in reaction to an Inquirer story on his being regarded as the winner in the 2007 election.

“I’m happy to know I’ve won,” said Lapid, who was in Cagayan de Oro City during the interview.

However, Lapid could not be declared the winner in the 2007 race as he did not file a petition for recount, according to Comelec provincial supervisor Temie Lambino.

It was Pineda who asked for a recount as she, in her petition, accused Panlilio, a Catholic priest, of allegedly buying and padding votes and using fake ballots and coercion.

Lapid would not be able to file a motion for intervention because the rules did not allow this, Lambino said.

Not interested

Lapid said he was not interested in claiming the seat.

“I prefer to concentrate on the PTA,” he said. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo had appointed him general manager of the agency a year after he lost in his reelection bid.

“He does not want to rock the boat. He and his father (actor-turned-senator Manuel “Lito” Lapid) are not active in Pampanga politics in the meantime,” said a source in the Lapid camp who requested anonymity.

Cleansing the votes

On the other hand, Panlilio, a priest on leave, asserted he was the winner in the 2007 polls.

“This is the second time I am the victim of cheating,” he said, referring to an electoral fraud allegedly committed by his rivals. He said more than 20,000 votes were supposedly taken from him during the counting at the precinct level.

Pampanga columnist Caesar Lacson said the recount in a way “cleansed some impurities” in the votes cast for Panlilio and Pineda.

Because the votes for Lapid were not appreciated and revised during the recount, they remained “raw,” he said.

Less votes in recount?

Lacson said Lapid, who placed third in the 2007 contest, would have lost more votes if he had been subjected to a recount.

This was because the ballot boxes in Mabalacat and Arayat, towns where Lapid had the most number of votes, were destroyed by fire and floods after the provincial canvassing of votes.

“We have a pretty interesting situation,” Lacson observed.

Pineda declined to react to Lapid’s virtual win. “My lawyers are on the case. I expect due process,” she said.

She has shouldered the cost of the recount, which initially reached P4.1 million, according to a copy of a check paid to the Comelec.