SC stops Comelec from disqualifying 2 partylist groups

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—The Supreme Court stopped the Commission on Elections (Comelec) from disqualifying the Coalition of Senior Citizens in the Philippines and Abang Lingkod party-list groups, superseding  a ruling by Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno that put on hold the proclamation of five remaining party-list winners in the May 13 polls.

The high tribunal ordered the Comelec to refrain from implementing its May 10 resolution disqualifying the senior citizens coalition as a party-list group as it directs the poll body to “observe the status quo ante before the issuance of the May 10, 2013 resolutions.”

“Previous orders, resolutions or issuances of the court in the consolidated cases involving the Senior Citizens Party-list group are superseded only insofar as they may be inconsistent with the present SQAO (Status Quo Ante Order),” the court said.

Sereno on May 29 issued a  ruling, while the high tribunal was in recess, stopping the Comelec from proclaiming the five remaining winners of the May 13 polling in the party-list system until the disqualification protest of the Coalition of Senior Citizens in the Philippines has been resolved.

Senior Associate Justice Teresita Leonardo-de Castro De Castro, who was tasked to handle the petition for relief from the court by the Senior Citizens’ group on May 14, had questioned Sereno’s blanket temporary restraining order, saying instead it adversely covered the remaining winners in the party-list balloting who were not impleaded in the case.

However, the high court told the Comelec not to proclaim the two party-list groups just yet.

“Proclamations of Abang Lingkod and Senior Citizens as winners in the May 10, 2013 elections are ordered to be held in abeyance until the court shall have resolved the petitions involving these two party-list groups,” the high court further stated.

It ordered Comelec though to reserve a seat for the senior citizens group.

“The court further directs the Comelec to reserve the seat(s) intended for petitioner Senior Citizens according to the votes it garnered in the May, 2013 elections,” it added.

The high court on Wednesday continued its en banc session discussing the restraining order that was questioned by De Castro.

In her letter, De Castro said her recommendation to restrain Comelec from implementing its ruling that nullified the participation of the Senior Citizens group in the party-list polls was ignored by Sereno. With a report from Philippine Daily Inquirer

Originally posted at 11:33 am | Wednesday, June 5, 2013