HRET’s bad name a thing of the past

I am writing in reaction to the Inquirer’s Aug. 7 editorial titled “Still waiting,” which stated that both the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET) and the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET) “do not have a good history when it comes to settling electoral disputes: they are not noted for speedy, timely and just resolution of cases…”

This may be the past reputation of the HRET. However, for the present 15th Congress, the HRET, with then Chair Conchita Carpio-Morales and me as one of its new members, received a total of 64 election protests and quo warranto cases, the highest ever in its history. Of these 64 cases, we have already resolved 36 in a little over a year or more than half (actually 56 percent).

This shows the efficiency of the present HRET despite its limited manpower and budgetary constraints.

—REP. RUFUS B. RODRIGUEZ,
Second District,
Cagayan de Oro City