Ex-Comelec chair to file motion for reconsideration on graft indictment

FILE PHOTO: Former Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon. INQUIRER/RICHARD A. REYES

BACOLOD CITY — Former election Commissioner Rowena Guanzon has announced she will contest the ruling of the Office of the Ombudsman that indicted her on graft charges for allegedly “prematurely disclosing confidential information” about the disqualification case of then-presidential candidate Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Guanzon said her motion for reconsideration is, among others, based on the fact that there was no voting or internal deliberations yet when she was interviewed about Marcos’ disqualification case.

“I did not steal from the government. That (indictment) is related to my interviews about the Ferdinand Marcos [Jr.] disqualification case. It was to inform the public that there were powerful people who were interfering in the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and therefore its independence and the elections were at serious risk,” she said.

The Ombudsman, in a resolution dated July 25, 2023, ordered the filing of two counts of violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act against Guanzon based on complaints filed by Citizen’s Crime Watch chairman Ferdinand Topacio and its president Diego Magpantay.

“Let’s not forget this is a retaliatory act of Ferdinand Topacio, whom I accused of Cyber Unjust Vexation and is facing trial in the RTC of Bacolod,” Guanzon said.

Topacio, in his complaint, cited Guanzon’s appearances in two interviews where she discussed Marcos’ disqualification from the May 2022 polls that were then pending before Comelec.

“Records disclose that by virtue of respondent’s position, she acquired the valuable information relating to the disqualification cases of Marcos Jr. and she prematurely divulged such confidential information prior to the official release of the Comelec’s decision,” the Ombudsman said.