A criminal case for violation of the Fair Elections Act and the Omnibus Election Code was filed today, 19 April 2022, before the COMELEC Law Department at Intramuros, Manila, against officials of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC).
The criminal complaint alleges that the act of the NTC respondents in giving due course and setting for hearing the Complaint dated 21 January 2022 filed against NOW Telecom Company, Inc., which sought to recall all of its assigned radio frequencies, violates Section 6.4 of the Fair Elections Code, which prohibits the cancellation or suspension of legislative franchise during the election period. Section 13 of the same code provides that said act is an election offense. The election period for the May elections commenced on 09 January 2022 and will end on 08 June 2022.
The respondents in the Complaint are NTC’s Nilo L. Lozada, Roberto P. Tolentino, and Imelda R. Walcien, the Chief of the Adjudication Division, Chief of the Radio Spectrum Planning Division, and Head of the Regulation Branch, respectively.
The Omnibus Election Code provides a penalty of imprisonment of one to six years, without probation, for election offenses. If convicted, an accused will also suffer from accessory penalties such as disqualification to hold public office and deprivation of their right of suffrage.
[Our team is now attempting to reach the respondent NTC officers for their comment.]