Brawl mars recall process in Bulacan

CITY OF MALOLOS—Two lawyers, arguing over rules, ended up in a fistfight on Thursday, the sixth day of the verification of more than 319,000 names and signatures in a recall petition against Gov. Wilhelmino Sy-Alvarado.

The brawl between Bernard Joseph Domingo, who represents Alvarado, and Dan Michael del Rosario, counsel of recall petitioner Perlita Mendoza, took place at 9 a.m. inside the Commission on Elections (Comelec) office in Meycauayan City, said Blessie Leonardo, city election officer.

The two lawyers fought again at 11 a.m.

Leonardo said the two lawyers began arguing over a two-minute limitation she imposed should any of them object to the inclusion of names, signatures and thumbmarks being vetted by the poll body.

“Del Rosario asked for a private chat so he could argue a reduction of the two-minute rule to only a minute, but Domingo barged in, and their arguments erupted into a brawl,” she said.

“That morning, I made my ruling to maintain the two-minute rule but with modification so that it would apply only to forged and falsified signatures,” she said.

The police were called in to stop the fight, she said, adding that the verification proceeded despite the disruption.

All election officers in Bulacan’s 21 towns and three cities are required to complete the verification by April 1. Their task was interrupted on March 20, 21 and 22 when the election officers were slapped with contempt charges for continuing the verification despite a temporary restraining order (TRO) issued by a Bulacan regional trial court on March 6.

The election officers resumed the verification on Monday when Judge Guillermo Agloro of the Bulacan Regional Trial Court Branch 83 lifted the 20-day TRO which would have lapsed on Thursday.

But 18 of the province’s poll officials also sent to the Comelec a strongly worded letter complaining about the risk they took when they were ordered to ignore the TRO.

The lifting of the TRO, however, did not extinguish the contempt charges filed against the election officials, said lawyer Julio Nicanor Guinto, Malolos City election officer.

“When we started this verification exercise, we felt like soldiers being sent into combat without arms and bullets. Imagine being dragged into court to face charges of indirect contempt while our generals still command us to attack without making moves to neutralize the heavy bombardment pounding the foot soldiers,” they said in the letter. Carmela Reyes-Estrope, Inquirer Central Luzon