THE Supreme Court yesterday issued another temporary restraining order (TRO) against the Commission on Elections (Comelec), this time for its resolution denying the substitution of Amelita Navarro by Giorgidi Aggabao as official candidate for mayor of Santiago City, Isabela under the Partido para sa Demokratikong Reporma.
The Court said it found the petition for certiorari filed by the camp of Navarro and Aggabao questioning the Dec. 22, 2021 resolution of the poll body to “sufficient in form and substance.”
It directed the Comelec to answer the petition within a “non-extendible period of 10 days” from receipt of the notice of the injunction.
A former lawmaker, Aggabao will run for mayor of Santiago City in place of Navarro.
Navarro, a three-term mayor, substituted for Lea Lorraine Villena in the vice mayoral race.
On Monday, the SC also stopped the Comelec from enforcing its order dismissing a petition for registration of party-list group Juan-Pinagkaisang Ordinaryong Mamamayan Para Yumabong, or Juan Pinoy.
Last week, the Court issued a TRO on the Comelec’s order cancelling the certificate of candidacy for vice president of Wilson Caritero Amad.
Prior to that, the SC also stopped the poll body from enforcing its resolution declaring Norman Cordero Marquez as a nuisance candidate and cancelling his COC in the senatorial race.
Meanwhile, Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said the poll body is open to reprinting official ballots if ordered by the Supreme Court, to include names of disqualified aspirants and party-list groups that were able to secure TROs.
“At this point, we are still in the early days of printing, and the Commission can very certainly order a reprinting of some of these ballots,” he said Tuesday in a forum adding few ballots have so for been printed.
“We have not even approached our peak printing capacity. Of the ballots with printed names, we are only starting with the BARMM (Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao), particularly Lanao del Sur. It is not that many,” he said.
