By Arlie Calalo

For lack of budget and time, the Commission on Elections will forego with the holding of recall elections against Gov. Eduardo Panlilio of Pampanga and 27 other local government officials.

Comelec chairman Jose Melo said that holding recall elections at this time was close to impossible because the Senate did not approve the budget for the purpose and the poll body was running out of time.

Comelec could not do anything on the (Panlilio) case because of these reasons, Melo told members of an anti-Panlilio group, Kapanalig at Kambilan Ning Memalen Pampanga Inc., who held a protest rally in front of the poll body?s main office in Intramuros, Manila.

Comelec could not also carry out 27 other recall elections it approved earlier because of budget and time constraints, Melo said.

The Comelec-approved recall petitions include those against Sulu Gov. Abdusakur Tan; Cabuyao, Laguna Mayor Isidro Hemedes Jr.; Mauban, Quezon Mayor Rexito Bantayan; Matag-ob, Leyte Mayor Gervasio Basbas; and Pantabangan, Nueva Ecija Vice Mayor Rossman Carry Uera.

The anti-Panlilio group led by Rosve Henson as president insisted there was still time for the Comelec to hold the recall elections in Pampanga since all the requirements have been met. Having no budget is a flimsy excuse because it is tantamount to denying the people of Pampanga of their constitutional rights, Henson said.

?Recall elections are guaranteed in the Constitution. We fulfilled the requirements and observed the process. The Philippine government and the Comelec are mandated to source the money wherever it may come from. That is their problem,? Henson said.

Last October, Kambilan filed a petition for recall elections against Panlilio citing the lack of confidence in his leadership, more than a year after he was elected. Kambilan is being linked with the camp of losing gubernatorial candidate Lilia Pineda, who is a known ally of President Arroyo.

Henson did not deny that he is a supporter of Pineda and even campaigned for her in the 2007 elections.

?But I assure you that she and her family have nothing to do with this petition. This is a multisectoral action against a governor who failed to unite the province,? Henson said.

At the press briefing, which was also attended by Commissioners Rene Sarmiento and Nicodemo Ferrer, Melo recalled having declared that there was hope for the conduct of recall elections after the House approved a P50-million budget, which was only half of Comelec?s original request. The election body had originally asked Congress to appropriate P46,539,189 for the Pampanga recall election; P30,465,605 for Sulu; P6,649,715 for Cabuyao; P3,399,976 for Mauban; P3,152,700 for Matag-Ob; and P2,943,011 for Pantabangan, but Congress approved only P50 million.

When the budget bill reached the Senate, the portion intended for the recall election was deleted, Melo said.

Senator Edgardo Angara, chairman of the committee on finance, confirmed that they did not include the budget for recall elections in the budget proposal, Melo told reporters.

Even if Senate approved the budget, recall elections would still not be possible at this time because the one-year ban on such exercises before a general election is in force. With or without the budget, holding a recall election at this time was next to impossible, Melo said.

The verification of signatures alone will eat much time, Sarmiento said. Counter petitions that can be filed can even reach the Supreme Court.

?We at the Comelec are always ready to carry out what is mandated for us to do including the conduct of recall elections but given the lack of time, we do not think it is still possible at this time,? Sarmiento said.