Comelec denies PDP-Laban Cusi wing given special treatment during Duterte arrival

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) denied that there was special treatment given to a faction of PDP-Laban when President Rodrigo Duterte arrived at the venue for the filing of certificates of candidacy for national posts.

Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez made the statement when he was asked to react to Senator Nancy Binay’s tweet, calling out the poll body for “breaking their own rules” when Duterte accompanied the PDP-Laban senatorial aspirants.

“Well, I would like to point out to everyone that we have been very fair in our handling of all the parties and all parties have received the same sort of treatment,” Jimenez said in a press briefing for the closing of the period of the COC filing.

He explained that the companions of PDP-Laban senatorial aspirants were asked to go out of the tent because there were "many of them.”

Jimenez noted that Duterte and the senatorial aspirants were left with even less than the allowed number of companions.

“So, I don’t see the special treatment. Of course, we did have [the Presidential Security Group] here. But as we said earlier, the President is entitled to his security detail so allowances must have to be made for that,” he said.

“Maybe that is where the perception of special treatment came in. But again, ultimately, each candidate is being treated the same way as any other candidate,” he added.

In her tweet, Binay directly asked the Comelec: “Do you really have to give special preference to the PDP-Cusi wing?”

“Napaka-unfair naman (It’s so unfair). We followed your rules sa Sofitel tent, then you [accommodated] the candidates of PDP and broke your own rules? If you can’t be fair [and] impartial, then what will [the 2022 elections] be like?” she asked.

At around 3:30 p.m., President Duterte arrived at the Harbor Garden Tent at Sofitel Philippine Plaza Manila in Pasay City.

He and Senator Bong Go, who is running for vice president, accompanied the seven PDP-Laban senatorial aspirants in filing their COCs.

Duterte raised the hands of the senatorial aspirants as a sign of support for their candidacies.

Apart from the seven aspirants who filed on Friday, Duterte also took pictures with former Public Works Secretary Mark Villar and MOCHA partylist nominee Mocha Uson while raising their hands. — DVM, GMA News