Bulacan poll execs say recall petition doomed

CITY OF MALOLOS—A recall petition against Bulacan Gov. Wilhelmino Sy-Alvarado has failed after Bulacan poll officials invalidated more than 70 percent of its 319,000 signatures, according to the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

In a news conference held here last week, Temie Lambino, Comelec regional director, said the signatures of only 67,959 petitioners were declared valid, falling short of the required 183,000 signatures and thumbmarks for the recall process to proceed.

Under the election law, a recall petition is valid if it was requested by at least 10 percent of an area’s voting population. In the Bulacan case, 183,000 voters constitute a majority.

The verification examined only 249,177 of the 319,000 signatures, which represented 78 percent of the petitioners.

Lambino also announced that the Comelec was investigating complaints filed by some provincial poll officials, who claimed to have received electronic thumb drives containing manufactured verification results.

Lambino said Alvarado and the recall petitioners led by Perlita Mendoza would have three days to appeal the Comelec findings, reckoned from the time they received copies of the verification report. Mendoza was the provincial administrator during the term of then Governor and now Rep. Joselito Mendoza.

The Comelec sitting en banc will determine whether to stop the recall or to proceed should it reverse the verification findings. Carmela Reyes-Estrope, Inquirer Central Luzon