MANILA — At least 48 Sangguniang Kabataan officials are included in the Commission on Elections’ (Comelec) long list of elected officials with pending “misrepresentation” case, Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia, said Monday.

In a list provided by Garcia, five are SK chairperson and the rest are SK members.

Names on the list come from different parts of Metro Manila and parts of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

The Comelec did not provide details of the supposed violations of the Omnibus Election Code committed by the said individuals.

The list of officials represent only a portion of politicians facing charges before the Comelec, Garcia said.

“Yan ay Agosto lang. Eh buwan-buwan po halos eh meron tayong misrepresentation cases na inaaprubahan, base sa rekomendasyon ng ating Law Department,” Garcia told ABS-CBN News.

Others who are not included in that August list, according to Garcia, are either village officials, mayors and congressmen.

“Kandidato, maaaring hindi man nakaupo, yung iba nakaupo,” he said.

He said the list proves that the Comelec is not singling out dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo, whose similar case is being deliberated on in the Commission.

“Regular naming ginagawa yung pagpa-file ng misrepresentation cases doon sa mga kandidatong may ng-file ng disqualification, or cancellation ng candidacy. O mga kandidatong wala mang nag-file ng disqualification o cancellation, pero sa atin pong palagay ay may pagsisinungaling,” Garcia said.

TARGET TO RESOLVE CASES

Garcia admitted that the cases usually take time to be finally resolved since respondents usually invoke their constitutional rights and the right to due process.

“Hindi katulad sa disqualification of cases o cancellation of candidacy na may period talaga tayo na dapat ganitong araw lang kinakailangan makapag-file sila ng kanilang komento o memorandum. Dito po hindi. Kalimitan  humihingi ng extension, thrd extension pa nga minsan, para lamang magkaroon ng due process,” Garcia explained.

There are still around 700 pending misrepresentation cases, out of the originally filed of “less than 10,000 cases” being reviewed by the Comelec, Garcia said.

The said cases are now pending before their Law Division.

“Ang problem kasi once na nadesisyunan na sa dibisyon, ay nagkakaroon ng filing ng Motion for Reconsideration. At dahil dyan, syempre dumadagdag uli yun bilang naka-pending na kaso,” Garcia said.