The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Wednesday welcomed the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict’s (NTF-ELCAC) Supreme Court petition challenging a provision of the poll body’s resolution addressing concerns on red-tagging.
However, Comelec chairman George Erwin Garcia requested that the court allow sufficient time for them to thoroughly review and evaluate the petition before providing a formal response.
Garcia said that he has not yet reviewed the full petition, but observed that they were allotted 10 days to provide their comments. Nevertheless, he said they would request an extension since they need enough time to prepare their defense.
In the copy of NTF-ELCAC’s petition for certiorari that Garcia provided to reporters, the group called on the Supreme Court to issue a temporary restraining order against a portion of Comelec Resolution 11116.
The provision contains the anti-discrimination guidelines for the 2025 elections that define “labeling” as an election offense.
In its resolution, the Comelec described “labelling” as the process of “categorizing, classifying, labeling, branding, associating, naming, and accusing individuals, groups, and/or organizations as ‘vocal dissenters’ and activists or sympathizers of subversive groups or terrorists, or as members of a criminal group/syndicate without any evidence, whether in-person or online, through broadcast or print, during the election period, and in relation to any election-related activity.”
NTF-ELCAC claimed the Comelec “committed grave abuse of discretion” for prescribing it as an election offense.
“We have already discussed this with our law department earlier and we will be requesting an extension. Well, unfortunately, in this case, the lawyer for NTF-ELCAC is the Solicitor General so the Comelec will be left to defend itself by our law department. Of course, we will defend ourselves,” Garcia said.
The poll body chief argued that the resolution was just a product of consolidated anti-discrimination resolutions and legislations already enforced in the country.
“The Comelec merely combined existing resolutions or laws that are in effect regarding the fight against discrimination. The Comelec also stated that just because it is a campaign, it doesn’t mean you can freely speak on stage and discriminate against anyone,” he said.
Garcia said their comments will also cover the other petitions previously submitted by the NTF-ELCAC, including the request for the cancellation of the registration and accreditation of the Gabriela Women and Kabataan party-lists.
