Maguindanao canvass ends in 4 days - Comelec spokesman

While the Supreme Court awaits the poll body's side on the matter, the spokesman for the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Wednesday expressed optimism that the canvassing of the contentious Maguindanao vote would be over within the week. Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said that based on his estimate, the certificates of canvass (COCs) of all 22 municipalities in Maguindanao would be processed before the final weekend of June. "Based on what I know, only five COCs have been re-canvassed in Maguindanao. There are still about 17 municipalities left to be canvassed. So if we finish that within the next two days, I think at that point we can say who won," Jimenez said in Filipino during an interview on dzBB radio. He was quick to stress, however, that he was merely expressing his "personal" view. "I am the only one giving the estimate, I cannot speak for the entire Comelec on this," Jimenez added. Last Tuesday, the Supreme Court deferred action on the petition of opposition senatorial candidate Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III seeking to prevent the Comelec from canvassing Maguindanao votes. The high tribunal said it wanted to hear the arguments of administration bet Juan Miguel Zubiri and the Comelec before coming out with a decision or a temporary restraining order. However, the SC enjoined the Comelec from acting on the Maguindanao votes so the oral arguments set this Thursday would not be rendered "moot." As this developed, Jimenez said controversial Maguindanao elections supervisor Lintang Bedol would most likely be brought to Manila after the latter is arrested. Bedol earned the ire of the Comelec and its Task Force Maguindanao after refusing to attend formal investigations as well as failing to submit a written explanation into the disappearance of municipal COCs. The poll supervisor, who was recently interviewed in Cotabato City with a gun tucked in his waist, has shrugged off two show-cause orders from the Comelec and Task Force Maguindanao, respectively. "Bedol will be brought before the commission en banc because he has to explain to Task Force Maguindanao and the commission en banc why the documents were lost," Jimenez said. He added that, "If needed, we will make arrangements for his detention in Manila." Bedol now faces investigation and charges from at least three entities, namely the Comelec, the police and the court. "His case will be processed under the criminal justice system, because the charge of infidelity under the custody of records is a Penal Code violation, not an election offense," Jimenez said. As for his problems with the police, Camp Crame on Tuesday said only two guns out of Bedol's cache of about 24 long and short firearms carried necessary permits. Chief Superintendent Florencio Caccam, chief of the PNP firearms and explosives division (FED), Bedol could be charged with illegal possession of firearms if the poll official indeed owned the guns. - GMANews.TV