The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is set to do a recount of the votes of the 2007 gubernatorial race in Pampanga despite the junking of the motion for reconsideration filed by Pampanga Gov. Eduardo Panlilio.

“Tuloy-tuloy na tayo nito… hindi na dapat pa magtagal itong kaso although it won’t be cut short just to rush it and dispose of it,” Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said in an interview.

Last July 28, the Supreme Court junked the appeal of Panlilio to stop the Comelec from doing a recount of the votes as requested earlier by losing candidate Lilia Pineda in her protest petition filed before the Comelec.

A recount of the votes will be done in all the 4,836 precincts in Pampanga.

Earlier, Comelec Chairman Jose Melo said they would hasten the votes recount process to make preparations for next year's elections.

Meanwhile, Comelec Commissioner Nicodemo Ferrer said the number of committees that will look into the ballots have been increased to speed up the process. Ferrer's second division is handling the protest case of Pineda.

“Instead of just having four revision committees, we will create 20 committees to simultaneously do the job para matapos tayo ,” Ferrer said in a separate interview.

Meanwhile, the Comelec is set to demonstrate the functionality of the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines to various sectors who are interested to see how the machine will be able to perform during next year's electoral process.

Jimenez said they are already preparing for the public demonstration of the PCOS all over the country. “We will make sure that everyone who will want to have a public demonstration and will request us to have one will be made possible. It is really part of our mandate,” Jimenez said.