Comelec Chair Andres Bautista AP FILE PHOTO
Commission on Elections (Comelec) commissioner Rowena Guanzon hit Comelec chair Andres Bautista on Monday for supposedly being biased in favor of presidential aspirant Senator Grace Poe.
In a series of tweets on her official Twitter account, Guanzon said Bautista met with the commissioners three times asking them to consolidate the petitions filed against Poe.
Poe’s camp has been asking the poll body to consolidate the four disqualification cases filed against Poe. This was, however, thumbed down by the Comelec en banc.
READ: Comelec in disarray over Poe DQ cases | Guanzon dares Bautista to open Comelec records to public
She added that after Poe lost in her cases in the First and Second Divisions of the Comelec, Bautista supposedly sat down on the resolution of the en banc.
The Comelec en banc on December 23 issued the resolution affirming the rulings of the two divisions to cancel Poe’s certificate of candidacy (COC), barring her from joining the 2016 presidential race.
“Bautista 3x met the Comms to insist we consolidate all Grace P cases. He voted in her favor. Talo si Grace P. He delayed issuance of the Resolution until dec 23,” Guanzon’s Twitter post said.
READ: Comelec opposes Poe’s bid to merge DQ cases
Meanwhile, the Comelec commissioner also questioned the support reportedly being given by Poe’s camp for Bautista.
“In only two days after the issue was leaked, Bautista has never made any [statement] after I answered back (may tinatago ba sya?) and how unusual coincidentally that Gatchalian, Poe and now Chiz who are immediately talking for Bautista (bakit sila kampi?),” she said.
Bautista, on the other hand, has not issued any statement refuting Guanzon’s claims.
The “infighting” in the Comelec stemmed from Guanzon’s filing of an “unauthorized” comment on the pleadings of Poe asking the high tribunal to overturn the decisions of the Comelec divisions to disqualify her to run for the presidency.
Bautista called out Guanzon and asked her to explain why she filed the comment without the concurrence of the full commission. He said that the act was a form of “disrespect” for his position.
READ: Comelec chair: Comment on Poe’s cases filed before SC ‘unauthorized’
Guanzon fought back, saying that she had the authority to file the comment, insisting that she was not a “subordinate” of Bautista.
The Comelec en banc is set to meet on Monday, January 11, to discuss the issue of the “unauthorized” comment. CB