THE camp of presidential candidate Miriam Defensor-Santiago on Thursday demanded that the Commission on Elections explain why the name of her People’s Reform Party was not included in the ballots that were printed for the May 9 elections.
PRP counsel Fatima Lipp Panontongan asked Comelec Chairman Juan Andres Bautista to invalidate all the ballots that did not carry the party’s name.
She also sought a commitment from the Comelec to include the PRP in all the ballots as the political party of Santiago.
“The photographs posted in various media channels during the press briefing last 15 February 2016 showed that the NPO [National Printing Office] clearly showed the PRP was omitted from the official ballot,” Panontongan said in her letter to Bautista.
“Upon discovery of this inexplicable incident, our legal team immediately raised the issue with the Commission’s Law Department which assured us that “PRP” is included in the Official Ballot as the political party of candidate Miriam Defensor-Santiago.”
PRP said the Comelec’s Law Department instructed them to wait for the list that would be released on Tuesday, but it was never carried on the commission’s website.
“Since we are aware that thousands of ballots are being printed by the hour at the expense of the Filipino people, we decided to verify with the Comelec’s Education and Information Department the authenticity of official ballots shown to the press,” the letter read.
