SC TRO to raise costs for some senatorial aspirants

Metro Manila, Philippines – Like the Commission on Elections, some senatorial aspirants are facing additional expenses due to the Supreme Court's temporary restraining order on the disqualification of a senatorial aspirant declared by the poll body as a nuisance candidate.

In a statement on Saturday, former Senator Kiko Pangilinan, who is seeking to return to the Senate, said that if senatorial aspirant Subair Guinthum Mustapha is inserted in the ballot, 20 aspirants, including himself, will have their ballot numbers changed, requiring the revision and reprinting of their campaign materials.

Pangilinan urged the Comelec to assign Mustapha the last number, 67, to spare the other senatorial aspirants from added costs.

“Bakit hindi na lang ilagay si Mustapha sa huling numero bilang huling kandidatong Senador sa balota para hindi na kailangan baguhin ang opisyal na numbering at mga numero ng ibang kandidato na inanunsyo na noong nakaraang taon pa?” said Pangilinan, who will move from No. 50 to 51 if Mustapha is inserted.

[Translation: Why not just place Mustapha as the last senatorial candidate on the ballot so there’s no need to change the official numbering and the numbers of other candidates that were announced as early as last year?]

In a text message to reporters, however, Comelec Chairman George Garcia said that while he understands the situation of those affected, the poll body must fully comply with the Supreme Court's order.

“Lumalabas po na yung TRO na na issue ng SC ay hindi lamang isama ang pangalan niya sa listahan ng mga kandidato kung hindi isama siya sa tamang numero base sa alphabetical arrangement,” Garcia said.

“Baka po maging dahilan pa ng panibagong TRO at ma-accuse tayo ng violation ng equal protection clause ng Constitution,” he added.

[Translation: It appears that the TRO issued by the SC is not only to include his name in the list of candidates but also to assign him the correct number based on the alphabetical arrangement. This might even lead to another TRO, and we could be accused of violating the equal protection clause of the Constitution.]

Comelec spokesperson Rex Laudiangco further explained that the alphabetical arrangement of names on the ballots, based on surnames, has been deemed the "most equitable and objective order/sequence of candidates” ensuring no particular person is intentionally given preference.

He added that the Supreme Court's stay order affecting Mustapha and seven local aspirants requires the Comelec to regenerate, reserialize, and reprint the ballots.

The Comelec previously reported that six million already-printed ballots, costing around P132 million, will now be rendered useless. Reprinting was initially scheduled to begin on Monday, Jan. 20, but Garcia stated that this will be postponed, though no new schedule has been announced.