MANILA - Former President Joseph Estrada’s decision to seek the presidency yet again could adversely affect the Commission on Elections' (Comelec) preparation for the automated elections in May 2010.

Unless the legal and constitutional issues are quickly resolved by the Supreme Court, the Comelec’s timetable in the printing and delivery of the ballots could be pushed back to a critical time.

Unlike in the manual system, in automated elections, the names of the candidates--from the national to the local--are already printed on the ballot. Voters will only have to shade a portion opposite the name of their preferred candidate. The votes will be counted and canvassed by the machine.

Likewise, unlike in the manual system, where ballots are the same nationwide, the ballots this time will be locale-specific. This means that ballots will be unique in each city and municipality since the candidates will be different. For the May polls, unique sets of ballots will be printed for the cities and municipalities.

To allow time for the printing of the special ballots, the Comelec set an earlier deadline for the filing of certificates of candidacy (COC). Candidates can file from November 20 to 30.

Petitions to deny due course or cancellation of COCs are to be held within 5 days after the last day of filing. It also imposes a December 14 deadline for substitution of candidates in case of withdrawal or disqualification.

Based on the Comelec’s timeline for poll automation, the printing of the ballots is supposed to start on January 7, 2010 and completed by April 18. About 50 millions ballots will be printed.

The start of the delivery of the ballots is scheduled on March 10, while shipment of the ballots nationwide will be from April 20 to May 8.

But the timeline could be pushed further back following Estrada’s decision to run.

Legal challenge

A Comelec commissioner, who asked not to be identified for legal reasons, agreed that the poll body’s poll automation timetable will be adjusted because of the expected legal challenge that will be raised against Estrada's candidacy.

“The Comelec, as a matter of ministerial duty, will accept Estrada’s COC, but it is expected that someone will challenge his qualification to run,” the poll official said.

Estrada insists that is not covered by the Constitutional provision which allows only one term for Philippine presidents, arguing that the ban only applies to sitting presidents.

He also argued that while the Sandiganbayan convicted him of plunder, the absolute pardon extended to him by President Arroyo restored his civil and political rights,

In a meeting Thursday, the commissioner said Estrada’s case and its implication to their preparations for poll automation was initially discussed. One area that could be affected is the printing of the ballots.

“We talked about how we are going to proceed in printing the ballots in case the issue remains pending? This could reach the SC,” the commissioner said. “Do we print the ballots with Estrada’s name on it or shall we wait for the final SC ruling?”

Plotting the timetable

The poll official plotted the timetable on the resolution of Estrada’s case.

After a petition to deny due course to Estrada’s COC has been filed, the Comelec will inform his camp to refute the challenge.  A hearing will be scheduled on the merits for the case. Then, the Comelec will render a decision.

Whether the decision is favorable or unfavorable to any side, a motion for reconsideration (MR) is expected to be filed. The entire process in Comelec could take more or less a month.

The ruling of the Comelec after the MR is expected to be appealed in the Supreme Court. Following the notification of both sides, the SC might even schedule an oral argument. Its decision is still subject to an MR. The final ruling after the MR could take a week.

The case of losing presidential candidate Fernando Poe Jr. could provide an idea how Estrada’s case would unfold.

It took two weeks for Comelec to dismiss the petition to deny Poe’s COC due to his citizenship case. It took another week for the poll body to rule on the MR.

On the other hand, it took two months for the SC to rule on Poe’s citizenship case. The Court handed its decision March 3, or two months before the 2004 elections.

Waiting for Comelec go signal

If Estrada’s case will take as long as Poe’s, then it is likely that the printing of the ballots would begin in March, the commissioner said. Other schedules, like the delivery and shipment of ballots, would then be affected.

Based on the official schedule, Gene Gregorio, spokesman for winning consortium Smartmatic-Total Information Management, said the printing of the ballots will begin once the Comelec delivers the list of candidates on December 7. Under the contract with Comelec, the consortium will be in charge of the ballot printing.

“We will process the data to be included in our system until December 14 so we can start the printing process by mid-January,” Gregorio said.

During their meeting Thursday, the Comelec commissioner said a colleague suggested that Estrada’s name be included in the ballot even if his case is pending. “But another colleague argued they should do the same for candidates declared by Comelec as nuisance but have appealed to the SC, or we could be accused of being unfair,” the commissioner said.

The poll official said the Comelec en banc has no emerging consensus yet on what to do in case Estrada’s case drags and the printing of the ballots gets delayed in the process.