Atienza files disqualification case vs Lim

Former Environment secretary and Manila mayoralty bet Lito Atienza on Thursday filed a disqualification case against incumbent Manila mayor Alfredo Lim, his rival in the May 10 elections, with the Commission on Elections (Comelec). In a five-page petition, Atienza said Lim misused some government equipment when he allegedly allowed one of his employees to use a computer at the Manila City Hall to create fake election results “Lim, who is directly responsible for the acts of his wards, is therefore guilty of allowing the illegal use of government equipment, facilities and personnel contrary to the provision of Section 261 of the Omnibus Election Code (OEC)," said Atienza. Section 261 of the OEC says that a candidate is prohibited from using “any printing press, radio, or television station or audio-visual equipment operated by the Government or by its divisions, sub-divisions, agencies or instrumentalities, including government-owned or controlled corporations from any election campaign or for any partisan political activity." Violation of the OEC constitutes an election offense, which is punishable by one to six years imprisonment, disenfranchisement, and disqualification from holding public office. On Tuesday, a computer operator at the Electronic Data Processing Unit of the Office of the Manila Mayor supposedly discovered accomplished election returns for the May 10 polls for the position of president to councilors. The ERs listed Lim as having a total of 1,717 votes, Atienza with 981, and another mayoralty bet former Philippine National Police (PNP) police chief Avelino Razon, with 475 votes. Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said the fake ERs should not cause any alarm because they are very different in appearance compared to the real election materials. - Kimberly Jane Tan/KBK, GMANews.TV