Zamora urges Comelec: Rule on recall polls soon
Residents of San Juan City who signed a petition for recall elections stage a rally in front of the Commission on Elections head office in Manila on Feb. 14. Edd Gumban
MANILA, Philippines — Former vice mayor Francis Zamora yesterday called on the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to issue a ruling soon on the motion for reconsideration filed by Mayor Guia Gomez against the poll body’s order to hold recall elections in San Juan City.
Zamora said Comelec spokesman James Jimenez made the assurance during a rally staged by his supporters at the poll body’s head office last week.
He thanked Jimenez for assuring the signatories of the recall petition “that there will be no delay in the recall petition process.”
Gomez defeated Zamora in the last election by 200 votes.
The Comelec en banc declared that the recall petition signed by at least 30,000 residents of San Juan was sufficient in form and substance but Gomez filed a motion for reconsideration last Jan. 18.
The poll body has yet to rule on the motion for reconsideration.
Zamora said recall elections should be held one year before the next elections, which is set on May 11, 2019.
His camp has roughly two months or until May 11 for the recall petition to proceed or the Comelec ruling would be wasted.
He said if the motion for reconsideration is denied, the Comelec has still to verify the authenticity of the 30,000 signatures on the petition and only 15,000 signatures is enough for the recall elections to move forward.
“There are still so many steps before the actual recall elections and time is fast running out,” said Zamora.
“It would be a shame if the voices of the signatories will never be given a chance to be heard,” he added.
On Feb. 15, five signatories in the recall petition filed criminal, civil and administrative cases before the Office of the Ombudsman against their barangay chairman for allegedly forcing them to sign an affidavit withdrawing their signatures in the petition.
Zamora said these acts of coercion being done by barangay chairpersons and councilors allied with Gomez are for them to forcibly get as many recantations as they can.
“The longer it is for the recall process to move forward, the more time Gomez and her allies in power have to terrorize the signatories,” he said.
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