Comelec dismisses petition to reopen ballot boxes in 2022 elections

Poll chair Erwin Garcia —Inquirer photo/Richard A. Reyes

MANILA, Philippines — The petition to reopen ballot boxes used in the 2022 elections, including those used in Sto. Tomas, Batangas, has been dismissed by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) en banc, its chief George Erwin Garcia said on Tuesday.

The appeal was made by a “trio” composed of former Information and Communications Technology Secretary Eliseo Rio, former Elections Commissioner Gus Lagman, and ex-Finance Executives Institute president Franklin Ysaac.

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Garcia said that the group was requesting a declaration of the failure of elections across the whole country based on their petition filed before the Supreme Court.

“The request, motion, of the trio, where they want to manually include some ballots, especially in Sto. Tomas, have been denied and dismissed by the Commission en banc,” Garcia said.

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“The reason for the dismissal is because the trio filed a petition to declare a failure of election in the entire Philippines. A [declaration of] failure of election is contrary to the remedy they are requesting, which is counting of the ballots,” he explained.

Aside from that, Garcia noted that there is an ongoing protest in Sto. Tomas, regarding the position of the city mayor, which has made the ballot boxes in the area untouchable due to a protective custody order.