MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) said Tuesday it stands by the integrity of its commissioners after a group of petitioners accused them of having bias.
The petitioners, led by Detainees of the Philippines chair Fr. Christian Buenafe, asked three commissioners of the Comelec Second Division to inhibit from a review of their decision to dismiss a petition seeking to cancel the certificate of candidacy of presidential candidate Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.
READ: Inhibit from Marcos COC case review, 3 Comelec execs told
In their motion for reconsideration, the petitioners also asked the Comelec to look into the “presence of bias” among the commissioners.
“Relative to that, and relative particularly to accusations of bias, Comelec takes exception to such characterizations noting only that before her appointment to the Comelec, Commissioner Inting actually has 20 years of judicial experience,” Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said in an online press briefing.
“We stand by the record of our commissioner. And again, we let that record speak for itself. We will wait for the motion for reconsideration to be resolved by the Commission en banc. I cannot tell you what will happen to that motion to inhibit because whether or not a magistrate will inhibit will be up to the magistrate,” Jimenez added.
The Comelec’s Second Division is presided over by Commissioner Socorro Inting with Commissioners Antonio Kho Jr. and Rey Bulay as members.