Malacañang expressed confidence that clean, orderly and credible May 10 local and national polls are “within reach,” as it also reminded those appointive officials who have been nominated or will be nominated as party-list representatives to act accordingly as provided under the law.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Ricardo Saludo said while the Arroyo government hailed the arrival of the last batch of Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines numbering to about 13,580, it also took the opportunity to strike a chord on those officials who are being nominated to represent party list groups.

In its Resolution No. 8691 issued on Nov. 3, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) ruled that appointive officials who are holding public office are considered resigned once they accept their nomination. But, those who are holding elective office and have been nominated to such posts may continue to hold their office after acceptance of their nomination.

“We are leaving it up to the affected official. We, in Malacañang, wanted that first of all, the law should be followed,” Saludo said in an interview over DzRB.

He admitted that Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes, one of the members of the Official Family, will be affected by the Comelec ruling after he is among those nominated to represent party-list group United Transport Koalisyon (1-Utak).

“Reyes has been busily addressing the power outage in Mindanao and if he will be forced to resign, we will not stopped him, but we assure that his work will be carried out effectively by his replacement,” the Palace official said.

Apart from Reyes, Pampanga Rep. Juan Miguel “Mikey” Arroyo is being nominated to represent Ang Galing Party (AGP).