Why is Comelec so slow to execute its own decision?

Homer T. Saquilayan was elected mayor of Imus, Cavite, three times, but each time he was not able to finish his term. His opponents invariably filed election protests and every time he would be unseated.

The last time he was elected was in the 2010 local elections which already used PCOS machines. Saquilayan was proclaimed the winning mayoral candidate with 48,181 votes, beating his opponent, Emmanuel Maliksi, by a margin of 8,499 votes. Like the two previous losing candidates against Saquilayan, Maliksi filed an election protest with the Imus Regional Trial Court presided over by Judge Cesar Mangrobang.

The RTC declared Maliksi the winner and he assumed the post of Imus mayor. Saquilayan went to the Commission on Elections which, after reviewing the photographs of the original ballots cast during the elections, declared Saquilayan the true winner. However, unlike Judge Mangrobang who immediately issued a writ of execution to seat Maliksi as mayor, the Comelec, which had declared Saquilayan as the real winner, has until now not issued a writ of execution. So Maliksi remains the mayor and Saquilayan is still on the outside looking in.

Meanwhile, only a few months are left of Saquilayan’s term and they are running out. There will be another election next year. Saquilayan is wondering why the Comelec is dragging its feet on the writ of execution. Yes, why is the Comelec so quick in buying expensive beds and renting a warehouse for P400 million but too slow in enforcing its own decisions?

Maybe these clues will explain this inaction: Saquilayan is a member of the Magdalo party, a local political party. Maliksi is a member of President Aquino’s ruling Liberal Party; a son of Rep. Ayong Maliksi, formerly governor of Cavite, the LP kingpin in the province.

Maliksi’s lawyer in his election protest was Sixto Brillantes. The chair of the Comelec now is Sixto Brillantes. Saquilayan’s counsel was Leila de Lima, now the secretary of justice who has no say in election matters at all.

This morning, Saquilayan’s supporters will picket the Comelec to force it to issue a writ of execution.

Here is a background of the case after Maliksi filed his election protest against Saquilayan with the Imus RTC: RTC Judge Mangrobang ordered the opening of the ballot boxes and the recounting of votes. Saquilayan protested, saying that the voting was already mechanized and there was no need to go through the tedious process of recounting each ballot. Maliksi countered that he did not trust the PCOS machines and insisted on a manual recount of the ballots, which the judge allowed.

In November 2011, Judge Mangrobang declared Maliksi the winner after he nullified almost 8,400 votes for Saquilayan but added new votes for Maliksi.

Despite repeated objections by Saquilayan, Judge Mangrobang blocked the printing of the pictures of the original ballots saved in the compact flash cards. Maliksi asked for an immediate writ of execution which the judge quickly granted, thereby unseating Saquilayan. Maliksi took over as mayor in December 2011.

Saquilayan filed a petition for certiorari with the Comelec claiming that Mangrobang’s hasty issuance of the writ of execution constituted grave abuse of discretion. Saquilayan also filed a separate appeal with the Comelec questioning Mangrobang’s decision which he said was erroneous.

Early in 2012, the Comelec’s First Division presided over by Commissioner Rene Sarmiento printed the pictures of the original ballots cast in the elections. The division discovered that the ballot boxes were tampered with after the elections and the ballots revised by Mangrobang were violated to nullify Saquilayan’s votes and to increase Maliksi’s votes.

In May 2012, the First Division issued a resolution in the certiorari case, saying that Mang-

robang’s refusal to allow the printing of the photographs of the original ballots was arbitrary and unjust, and that there was “no good reason” for Mangrobang to quickly issue the writ of execution. The Comelec then voided Mangrobang’s order that seated Maliksi as mayor.

Maliksi filed a petition with the Comelec en banc asking the entire commission to reverse the resolution of the First Division in the certiorari case. Meanwhile, he remains mayor of Imus while his petition remains pending.

Last Aug. 15, 2012, the Comelec’s First Division issued a unanimous decision in the appealed case, confirming that the original ballots were tampered with after the elections. It announced the result of the revision of the votes based on the photographs of the original ballots cast during the elections: Saquilayan won, beating Maliksi by a margin of 8,429 votes. Maliksi filed a motion for reconsideration, asking all the members of the First Division to inhibit themselves from the case.

Saquilayan petitioned for the issuance of a writ of execution so he could reassume the position of mayor of Imus. But the Comelec seems to have other important matters to attend to, like setting aside P400 million as rental for a warehouse to store PCOS machines, but it has little time to issue a writ of execution to return an elected mayor like Saquilayan to his rightful place in Imus.

By the way, with only a fraction of the P400-million rental, the Comelec can build its own warehouse. The P400-million rental money is good only for 39 months, after which the Comelec will have to shell out another P400 million. With its own warehouse, however, the Comelec will have a permanent storehouse, rent-free. Why is the Comelec so willing to spend taxpayers’ money on expenditures that it can avoid?