The anti-crime group Citizens’ Crime Watch on Wednesday said it will file a motion to intervene in the disqualification case filed by lawyer Ferdinand Topacio against Senator Aquilino Pimentel III before the Commission on Elections.
According to lawyer Diego Magpantay, CCW president, his group had been accredited as election observer by the Comelec in 2007.
“As such election watchdog, it is our duty not only to safeguard the votes, but to safeguard the electoral process itself by insuring that only qualified candidates run in the elections,” Magpantay said.
He added that he convened the group’s board of directors, who told him that they were convinced that Topacio’s petition was “meritorious” and that CCW should intervene in the case in favor of Topacio.
“While we are apolitical as far as our activities are concerned, we agree that Senator Pimentel should no longer be allowed to seek reelection as of now, but only because it is violative of the Constitution and the principle that no one should monopolize political power,” Magpantay added.
“Our intervention in the case against Pimentel is not due to any partisan considerations, but because of our desire to uphold the Constitution and the sacred process of suffrage,” he said.