Comelec stops recall process vs Samar gov, vice governor

TACLOBAN CITY—The recall petition against Samar Gov. Sharee Ann Tan and brother Vice Gov. Stephen James Tan will be delayed as the Commission on Elections (Comelec) suspended the verification of signatures on the petition.

Lawyer Ma. Corazon Montallana, provincial election supervisor, said on Tuesday that a Comelec order signed by Deputy Executive Director for Operations Bartolome Sinocruz Jr. has directed the Comelec office in Samar to “temporarily suspend” the signature verification process.

Based on the Comelec order received by the Comelec office in Samar on Aug. 27, the suspension was due to the pending protest of vice presidential candidate and now Transportation Secretary Mar Roxas at the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET) against Vice President Jejomar Binay.

The PET has written to the Comelec on Aug. 23 directing them not to proceed with the signature verification process, which was set to start on Aug. 29 and end on Sept. 20, to authenticate the signatures on the recall petitions against the Samar governor and vice governor.

According to Montallana, the Comelec central office directed her “to preserve the integrity of the book and lists of voters” so they could not conduct the signature verification process.

“They are apprehensive that in course of the signature verification process, something could happen like possible loss of the book or lists of voters which are still essential to the pending protest at the PET,” Montallana said.

She said even the photocopying of the book and lists of voters was prohibited by the PET order, adding that there was no definite date when the suspension order would be lifted.

Montallana explained that the Comelec central office would request the PET to issue a precautionary protective order to allow the Comelec to continue the signature verification process.

The recall petition against Governor Tan contains 73,889 signatories while that filed against her brother has 73,250 signatories.

The Tan siblings were being sought for recall due to their alleged “incompetence” to lead the province as they appeared to be following the orders of their mother, Rep. Mila Tan, the province’s former governor.

The recall petition against the Tan siblings was filed on Dec. 7, 2010, by Aurelio Bardaje (main petitioner against Governor Tan) and Elvisa Lopez (main petitioner against Vice Governor Tan) at the provincial Comelec office.

The Comelec central office had ruled that the separate recall petitions were sufficient in form and substance last Jan. 12. The Comelec en banc also dismissed the motion for reconsideration filed by the Tan siblings last Aug. 5.