Comelec ratifies Guanzon filing

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Friday released a resolution to “ratify and validate” the comment filed by Commissioner Rowena Guanzon with the Supreme Court on Sen. Grace Poe’s disqualification cases.

At the same time, it designated Commissioner Arthur Lim to be the lead counsel of the poll body on the matter.

The commissioners issued the resolution apparently to clear the air after Comelec Chair Andres Bautista initially dismissed as “unauthorized” the comment Guanzon had submitted to the high court.

The resolution stressed the full approval of the Comelec en banc to the document filed,  which upheld the disqualification of Poe by the poll body’s First and Second Divisions. The divisions had ruled on the petitions of former Sen. Francisco Tatad, De La Salle University professor Antonio Contreras, former University of the East college of law dean Amado Valdez, and former Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) lawyer Estrella Elamparo.

All seven members of the Comelec signed the resolution but Bautista wrote a handwritten comment, saying the resolution was “subject to continuing discussions regarding the procedure in the filing of pleadings in the Supreme Court and the creation of an Ethics Committee.”