MALOLOS CITY—Political tension is running high as followers of Bulacan Gov. Wilhelmino Sy-Alvarado and his arch-rival 3rd District Congressman Jonjon Mendoza brace for a showdown in Comelec offices for the verification of signatures and thumb marks of petitioners in the recall elections scheduled for today.
The verification process is an integral part of the recall procedures under Comelec Resolution 7505 which was stopped by a temporary restraining order issued last Friday by Bulacan Regional Trial Court-Branch 83 Judge Guillermo Agloro.
Newly appointed OIC Provincial Election Supervisor Jerbee Anthony Cortez is not about to abort the scheduled verification starting today (March 9) up to March 23 involving some 107 Comelec Validation Centers (CVC, sources said.
On the otherhand, legal aides of Alvarado have been working overtime since Friday to disseminate and convince all Election Officers (EOs) in the 21 municipalities and 3 component cities of Bulacan to abide by the last-minute TRO issued by the RTC.
Under the Omnibus Election Code, only the EOs and volunteer teachers are allowed to man the CVCs during the 15-day period of the recall that was made final by the Comelec en banc in its January 30, 2015 resolution. A total of 319,707 voters out of the 1,534,058 total voters in the May, 2013 elections signed the recall petition initiated by former provincial administrator Perlita Mendoza last April 28, 2014.
The legal dilemma is that the Supreme Court en banc has also given its expressed imprimatur on the Comelec decision to proceed with the recall elections when the high tribunal dismissed last February 16 a ‘petition’ of Alvarado seeking a TRO to stop the Comelec from acting on the recall initiative.
The tough question poised on Bulacan PES Cortez is: Can an RTC judge issue a TRO against the Comelec, a constitutional commission, which had been given a green light by the Supreme Court to proceed with its mandated work on the recall of Gov. Alvarado?
During the summary hearing last Friday, March 6, on Alvarado’s urgent petition for the issuance of an injuction to stop the recall proceedings, Cortez (who was the only defendant in the case) did not even participate in the court hearing.
Cortez, in fact, merely informed the court of his presence and that he was just 4 days in office and is not in a position to confirm or deny any of the actions of his predecessor, Elmo Duque, who was relieved on March 3 for still unknown reasons.
Also during Friday’s hearing, Mendoza’s counsel Bernadette Serdillo, who showed up in court although not served with any notice, entered his appearance as intervenor and argued that her client should have been made a party-in-interest in the case.
Judge Agloro however did not allow Serdillo to make any manifestation and instead required her to file first a ‘Motion for Intervention’ within five (5) days so the Court can recognize her appearance. Serdillo sought a verbal reconsideration of Agloro’s ruling but was denied.
Serdillo also manifested that the Court should take judicial notice of a May 5, 2013 decision of Bulacan RTC-Branch 22 Judge Grace Victoria Ruiz involving the same petition for a TRO and the same parties which unequivocally ruled that the Regional Trial Court has no jurisdiction over Comelec which is a constitutional commission.
But Judge Agloro shot back: “You have no personality here. And this Court does not take judicial notice of anything you said. Strike that out from the records of this proceedings.”
A source said Petitioner Mendoza has filed a petition for ‘certiorari’ before the Court of Appeals to stop the Bulacan RTC from enforcing its TRO against the Bulacan PES.
