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MANILA, Philippines – Commission on Elections (Comelec) commissioner Aimee Ferolino, who is on the receiving end of backlash online over the disqualification case against 2022 presidential candidate Ferdinand Marcos Jr., asserted on Wednesday, February 16, that the credibility of the poll body remains intact.

Ferolino catapulted to national spotlight in January after her-then colleague, now-retired commissioner Rowena Guanzon, accused her of political interference in her then-unreleased ruling on the consolidated anti-Marcos petitions.

Ferolino had brushed aside Guanzon’s allegations that she deliberately delayed the release of the ruling until Guanzon’s retirement so that the poll veteran’s vote to disqualify Marcos Jr. would not count.

In Wednesday’s press conference following the signing of memorandum of agreement between the Comelec and non-governmental organization Vote Pilipinas, Ferolino, in broad strokes, allayed the public’s fears concerning the elections, in relation to issues hounding the poll body.

“The Comelec is composed of so many people from the top to the lowest employee, so I think that rough patch, the minor issue, will not affect the credibility of the commission as a whole,” Ferolino said, apparently alluding to the controversies she was part of in recent weeks.

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Ferolino also maintained that the show must go on for the thousands of Comelec officers nationwide.

“Despite the issues that cropped up in the past days, it’s only between some people and not the commission as a whole,” Ferolino said. “We have the machines which remain impartial, and we have people on the ground who know their job and who will continue doing their job without bias.”

In response, Guanzon appeared to be displeased by Ferolino’s choice of words.

“Minor issue?!” she tweeted later on Wednesday.

Eight days after Guanzon’s retirement on February 2, the Comelec’s 1st Division eventually released a dismissal order on the consolidated anti-Marcos case. Ferolino penned the decision as ponente.

Guanzon, in tweets since February 10, lambasted Ferolino over her decision, saying the ponencia had “atrocious logic” and was “fraught with grammatical and typographical errors.”

Ferolino has not responded to queries by reporters about her reaction to Guanzon’s recent jabs against her.

Ferolino, a poll executive from Davao, is a career official with nearly three decades of experience in the Comelec.

She and her three other en banc colleagues are all appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte. – Rappler.com