CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – A group seeking the ouster of Pampanga Gov. Eddie Panlilio called as “very regrettable” the statement of Commission on Elections Chair Jose Melo that there was no more time to hold recall elections in several areas in the country.

Melo gave the statement after the promised P50-million budget for the recall polls, originally set at P96 million, was not included in the 2009 general appropriations, which President Macapagal-Arroyo has yet to sign.

Melo also said the 45-day campaign period required for recall elections is very close to the election ban set a year before the holding of regular elections, in this case the May 2010 national and local elections.

Rosve Henson, president of the Kapanalig at Kambilan ning Memalen Pampanga Inc. (Kambilan), which filed the recall petition against Panlilio on Oct. 15 last year, said Melo should act fast.

Henson also warned that unless this was done, the people would be deprived of their rights.

Romulo Macalintal, the governor’s lawyer, said he expected no recall elections to happen from the very start. “I’ve repeatedly stated there is no room for recall elections especially in Pampanga where the petition on its face is fatally defective and that with or without funds, that petition will never succeed,” he said.