00:00Good evening, Luzon Visayas and Mindanao.
00:04More than P100 million worth of printed balotas need to be destroyed by the Comelec.
00:11None of these have the names given by the Supreme Court.
00:15This is just the beginning of this order.
00:17If the Comelec clarifies, there are no printed balotas for the local candidates.
00:22And Sandra Aguinaldo is talking.
00:24Last night, the Comelec stopped the printing of balotas in the National Printing Office.
00:33This is after the release of the Temporary Restraining Order or TRO by the Supreme Court
00:39in accordance with the petition of five aspirants.
00:41The Comelec did not put them in the printed balotas
00:45because two of them were declared nuisance candidates
00:48while the others were disqualified, the application was rejected
00:52and they were denied the Certificate of Candidacy.
00:55But the Supreme Court said that they should be included in the balotas
00:59while the printed balotas will be destroyed.
01:02The Comelec wrote to the Commission on Audit
01:04to let them know what will be done with the destruction.
01:07They were invited to witness this.
01:09This is the part of the balotas worth P6 million
01:14that the Comelec is saying that they have printed
01:17but they can no longer use it.
01:19According to the Comelec, they have spent P150 million on printing these balotas.
01:27The court also ordered to add the name of five aspirants to the new printed balotas
01:33even though it is not easy according to the Comelec.
01:36We immediately ordered to change the election management system.
01:40It is a system where everyone knows how and what the balotas will be printed.
01:48We will also change all of the 2,000 balot phases of the country
01:55because the name of the candidate should be included.
01:59According to the Comelec, the balotas have not been printed yet for the local candidates.
02:03That is why it is more effective to add the name of the senatorial aspirant, Mustafa, to the balotas.
02:11The alphabetical order of the name will change the number of aspirants under it.
02:17According to the Comelec, there are other petitions like this one in the Supreme Court.
02:23We will print the balotas again and there will be a new directive
02:27that will not put pressure on the Supreme Court with all due respect.
02:31We will do it again, especially if the position involved is a national position.
02:35So we will go back to zero.
02:37We will always go back to zero if there will be a temporary restraining order
02:42to add a name to our balotas.
02:46If the Supreme Court will wait for all the petitions that are being heard,
02:51before printing the balotas, they will run out of time, according to the Comelec.
02:56With all due respect, we cannot wait because we do not know the action of our Supreme Court.
03:04We cannot sleep with them because the Comelec is an independent body
03:09and of course, we respect the independence of the Supreme Court.
03:13On Monday or Tuesday, it is possible to continue printing the balotas.
03:17To make it faster, it is possible to use the four printers of the NPO,
03:22aside from the two that are already being used.
03:24Don't worry, fellow citizens.
03:26Your Commissioner-Election is being guaranteed.
03:28We are in control of the situation.
03:30For GMA Integrated News, Sandra Aguinaldo, for Tutok, 24 hours.
03:43Transcription by ESO. Translation by —
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