Lawyer Romulo Makalintal says the Commission on Elections (Comelec) could hasten its disposition of cases by dumping those that are without merit, like the election protest filed against Pampanga Governor Ed Panlilio.

The election lawyer made the pitch in Friday's edition of the Balitaan sa Rembrandt in Quezon City as he called for drastic reforms in the Comelec's system of accepting all cases filed before it.

This has led to the clogged dockets of the poll agency and prolonged deliberations over a variety of complaints that should not have been pursued at all, he argued.

Makalintal insisted the case against Panlilio will be overtaken by the May 2010 elections, noting that the Supreme Court (SC) decision ordering the Comelec to hear the election protest and the plea for recount by defeated gubernatorial candidate Lilia Pineda would take a long time to resolve.

He noted that it will take one month for the election boxes to be brought to the Comelec, another month for the parties to prepare for the recount and then at least four months for the reappreciation of ballots.

The Panlilio camp may go to the Comelec en banc to plead for time and the Pineda camp must be given similar time to contest this, Makalintal added.

Should any party feel aggrieved, it can lodge a plea with the SC, which would again be contested.

In short, Makalintal stressed there will be no more time left for a resolution by May 2010, when the elections are held.