Ang pahayag ay ginawa ni Commission on Elections (Comelec) spokesperson James Jimenez nitong Lunes bilang reaksiyon sa petisyon na inihain ng  Coalition for Life and Democracy na humihiling na ipagpaliban ang halalang nakatakda sa Mayo 9, 2022 hanggang sa taong 2025 dahil sa COVID-19 pandemic.

"I think they’re going by the fact that the Comelec does have the authority to suspend the conduct of elections. But, the petition itself, just on the surface of it, seems unlikely to prosper,” ayon kay Jimenez, sa panayam sa telebisyon.

“Basically saying that we’re going to go against the Constitution and just not hold elections this year. Right? That would be unconstitutional,” dagdag pa niya.

Ipinaliwanag ni Jimenez na maaaring magsuspinde ang Comelec ng halalan ngunit kung sa maikling panahon lamang at kung ang kondisyon para sa malaya at patas na halalan ay hindi umiiral.

“I think those particular criteria do not exist right now. So, I don’t see any justification for granting this sort of petition. Of course, that’s entirely on the commission en banc if it ever gets to them,” aniya pa.

Kasabay nito, sinabi rin ni Jimenez na ang petisyon ay “problematic.”

“Again, the petition is asking for the elections to be postponed all the way to 2025, essentially meaning that they just want to forego the elections entirely. This is problematic for two reasons: the Constitution is very specific about when elections are to be held and second, there is no holdover provision in the Constitution or anywhere for the positions that are up for election in the coming polls,” paliwanag pa niya. 

Mary Ann Santiago