Ferolino: Recent 'minor issues' in Comelec won't affect Eleksyon 2022 credibility

Commissioner Aimee Ferolino on Wednesday said "minor issues" that hounded the Commission on Elections (Comelec) recently will not affect the credibility of the poll body and the 2022 elections.

“I think despite the issues that came up during the past days, it’s just between some people and not the commission as a whole,” Ferolino said in a press conference, apparently referring to her internal rift with retired Commissioner Rowena Guanzon.

“The Comelec is composed of so many people from the top up to the lowest employee. So I think that rough patch, that minor issue, will not affect the credibility of the commission as a whole.”

She further noted that the results of the 2022 elections will not rely on some poll officials but on the vote counting machines and the employees on the ground who remain impartial and free from bias.

“Whatever the results may be, it is not dependent on a few people. We have the machine which remains impartial and we have people on the ground who knows their job and who will continue doing their job without bias,” she said.

Ferolino has been in the headlines lately after Guanzon, then the presiding officer of the Comelec First Division, accused her of delaying the release of the decision on the disqualification cases against presidential candidate Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to invalidate her vote.

Guanzon had voted for Marcos' disqualification due to a conviction of a crime involving moral turpitude.

Last February 10, the former Comelec First Division dismissed the disqualification cases against Marcos “for lack of merit.”

Prior to Guanzon’s retirement last February 2, she released a separate opinion explaining her vote for Marcos' disqualification. She said she believes that the non-filing of income tax returns for four consecutive years constitutes moral turpitude.

Guanzon said Ferolino should inhibit from voting on the motions for reconsideration related to the dismissed disqualification petitions against Marcos.

The three petitioners in the consolidated disqualification cases against Marcos have already filed their respective appeals with the Comelec.

These motions for reconsiderations will be tackled by the Comelec en banc, which currently has four members. Three vacancies on the commission have yet to be filled by President Rodrigo Duterte.

Regardless of the en banc's judgment, either the petitioners or Marcos can file an appeal with the Supreme Court.

For his part, Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said the poll body’s preparations and activities which are intended for the “benefit of the public” are “greater indicators of the integrity” of the election system.

“The true test of integrity is not the absence of problems, but the ability to continue despite having rough patches,” he said.

“The system is working and we are continuing on with our work and we assure the public that we will continue doing our work regardless of the rough patches and we will show them that the 2022 elections will be the kind of elections that the Filipinos truly deserve,” Jimenez added. --KBK, GMA News