Don’t leave us hanging, Comelec chief asks SC

Resolve it now.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will ask the Supreme Court to immediately rule on the merits of the petitions filed against the airtime limits on political advertisements for the May elections, Comelec chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. said Wednesday.

Brillantes said he would ask the Office of the Solicitor General to immediately file a motion for the high court to quickly resolve the case to avoid confusion and “wrong interpretations” about the status quo ante (SQA) order that the tribunal issued.

“A ruling on the merits means, ‘Are we (the Comelec) wrong or are we right?’ That’s it. It has been pending for two months,” Brillantes said in an interview.

“Why did they not decide it on the merits? (If the court rules with finality that) we are wrong, it’s okay with me. It is the Supreme Court that makes the final pronouncement. If it says we are wrong, we are wrong,” he said.

“(But) I wouldn’t wait for two months and then come out with just a status quo ante order… That’s what I’m asking the justices of the Supreme Court: Don’t leave us hanging,” he added.

Brillantes said he had talked with some “friends” in the Supreme Court and urged them to come out with a final decision on the merits of the petitions.

“I just hope that this is finished (with a final ruling) on the merits. Since you issued a status quo ante order, I think you should resolve this based on the merits within the next few days,” Brillantes said.

“In fact, I’m going to ask the Solicitor General, who’s handling the case for us, to file a motion immediately to say that we can’t just leave it at a status quo ante order. You should resolve already the merits,” he said.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued an SQA stopping the Comelec from implementing its rules limiting the airtime of political advertisements.