Can the Comelec do it?

Published by the Visayan Daily Star Publications, Inc.

NINFA R. LEONARDIA Editor-in-Chief & President

CARLA P. GOMEZ Editor GUILLERMO TEJIDA III Desk Editor NANETTE L. GUADALQUIVER Busines Editor CEDELF P. TUPAS Sports Editor (On Leave) RENE GENOVE Bureau Chief, Dumaguete MAJA P. DELY Advertising Coordinator

CARLOS ANTONIO L. LEONARDIA Administrative Officer

The announcement that the Commission on Election has resolved to speed up the resolution of cases filed in connection with the last elections should be a very welcome one, especially to those who truly believe that the cases they have filed are meritorious.

The Comelec should not, however, be surprised if few people believe its members mean it, considering its record of delayed or unacted upon complaints, especially protests related to the elections. How many times have we heard of election protests that are resolved, and the decision announced right on the eve of another election, and where the true winner is deprived of the opportunity to serve as he or she deserves?

Right here in Negros Occidental, we have cases like that, one of them involving a local government executive who was declared the winner just a few weeks before the next election, meaning, her case had dragged on for almost the whole of the three-year term she had sought when she filed her certificate of candidacy. To her credit, the lady winner declined to assume the position, knowing she would not have any chance to do anything for her constituents, anyway.

This kind of situation has been repeated in so many places all over the country, so it gives a glimmer of hope to present and prospective protestors when the Comelec announces such a resolution. The fact that there has been an upheaval in the commission, with some of its top officials resigned, others retiring, and a new chairman appointed, further bolsters this hope.

The Comelec should prove such resolve by action if it is to redeem the credibility that it seems to have lost so appallingly in the past few years.*