Lacierda: COMELEC Mere Puppet of GMA

Atty. Edwin Lacierda
Spokesperson
Presidential Campaign of Benigno S. Aquino III
February 12, 2010

The COMELEC under the GMA administration has been relegated to nothing more than a face of its duplicity and favoritism. Instead of ensuring that the country's first automated elections will be free from fraud and manipulation, the COMELEC has busied itself with churning decision after decision against Liberal Party stalwarts like Gov. Grace Padaca, Among Ed Panlilio, and most recently, Governors Jon-Jon Mendoza and Mitra. Instead of going after signal jamming devices that are capable of perpetuating fraud that characterized the 2004 elections, the COMELEC has chosen to go after celebrity endorsers to curtail their freedom of speech and expression by forcing them to go on leave during the campaign period.

Instead of leveling the playing field, COMELEC favored Senator Manuel Villar by changing the rules and allowing 120 minutes of advertisements on a per station basis knowing that the other candidates do not have the financial resources to mount an expensive campaign. Not only is the COMELEC clearly biased in favor of Senator Villar, it violates long standing principles on fair play and public interest.

More and more, we see the conspiracy of this administration to favor their candidate, Villar.  Ultimately, it is the ordinary Filipino who will pay the price of the abuses and machinations of an abusive and corrupt government.