Drilon urges newly-appointed Comelec commissioner Neri to resign over past case-fixing allegation

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon on Monday urged newly-appointed poll commissioner Aimee Torrefranca-Neri to resign as he warned that her appointment may cast doubts on the credibility of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in handling the 2022 national and local elections, citing an allegation of case-fixing in the Supreme Court.

In an ANC interview, Drilon said he has no objections to the appointment of Comelec chairman Saidamen Balt Pangarungan and Commissioner George Garcia but he takes exception to the appointment of Neri.

“I have doubts in her capacity to act independently... There is an extortion charge against her. A daughter of a drug lord said she asked for P10 million to settle, for the case of the drug lord to be favorably acted upon... Out of P10 million, Commissioner Neri returned P7 million but kept the P3 million,” Drilon said.

In a statement, Drilon said Atty. Ferdinand Topacio, legal counsel of alleged drug lord Herbert Colangco, is expected to substantiate his allegations that his client gave then-Justice Assistant Secretary Neri P10 million to "fix" a robbery case before the Supreme Court.

“This is a public statement of the daughter of the drug lord, and second, the lawyer of the alleged drug lord, Atty. Topacio, confirmed it that there was a delivery of P10 million. And therefore, this very episode casts a very serious doubt on the integrity and capacity of Commissioner Aimee Neri to discharge her functions as Comelec commissioner,” Drilon said in the same television interview.

“In fairness to the Filipino people, in fairness to the president, and in fairness to the Comelec, she should just resign,” he added.

Drilon, a member of the Commission on Appointments, said Neri could not be fired nor could her appointment be withdrawn as it is an ad interim appointment.

Moreover, Drilon said he believes that Neri has a “backer” who pushes for her appointment in various government posts.

Drilon noted that since the start of the term of President Rodrigo Duterte, Neri has worked as assistant secretary of the Department of Justice in 2016, deputy commissioner of the Bureau of Immigration in 2017, and undersecretary of the Department of Social Welfare and Development in 2018, and this year as a Comelec commissioner.

Malacañang confirmed last week that Duterte signed the appointment papers of Pangarungan as ad interim chairman of Comelec, and Garcia and Neri as ad interim Comelec commissioners.

GMA News Online asked Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez for his reaction to Drilon’s statement but has yet to receive a reply as of posting time.

Jimenez however last week said the public should give the new poll commissioners a chance to prove that they are impartial and neutral in resolving matters in the Comelec. —KG, GMA News