Comelec disqualifies Marinduque congressional bet
- Published : Saturday, May 18, 2013 00:00
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THE Commission on Elections en banc on Tuesday affirmed with finality the Commission's First Division resolution cancelling Regina Ongsiako Reyes’ Certificate of Candidacy for the position of congresswoman of the lone district of Marinduque.
Voting five to one with one abstention, the Comelec disqualified Reyes.
Comelec Chair Sixto Brillantes did not provide details for his dissent. Commissioner Luie Guia took no part in the deliberation and abstained from the case while Commissioner Christian Lim submitted a separate opinion concurring with the decision.
The Comelec’s First Division said Reyes is a US citizen. It also relied on the certificate issued by the Bureau of Immigration detailing Reyes’ use of a US passport since 2005.
“Unless and until she can establish that she had availed of the privileges of RA 9225 by becoming a dual Filipino-American citizen, and thereafter, made a valid sworn renunciation of her American citizenship, she remains to be an American citizen and is, therefore, ineligible to run for and hold any elective public office in the Philippines,” the Comelec said.
Reyes admitted in her Motion for Reconsideration that she is indeed an American citizen but claimed to be a dual citizen of the Philippines and of the United States due to her previous marriage to Saturnino S. Ador Dionisio.
She claimed she acquired her U.S. citizenship by virtue of her marriage to a U.S. citizen but she denied having undergone naturalization.
The Comelec en banc, however, was not persuaded by Reyes’ claim considering that she was not able to present any legal or factual basis, therefore, it ruled that Reyes failed to substantiate her claims and her contention was merely a rehash of her previous arguments.
A concurring opinion by Commissioner Christian Robert S. Lim stressed that Reyes failed to comply with the requirements set forth by RA 9225 with regards to reacquisition of her Filipino citizenship. He also emphasized that Reyes failed to prove that she is a resident of Marinduque one year before the elections.
Section 6 of Republic Act 6646 stated that any candidate who has been declared by final judgment to be disqualified shall not be voted for, and the votes cast for him shall not be counted.
Reyes’ disqualification paved way for the proclamation of the remaining candidate Cong. Lord Allan Jay Q. Velasco.
The May 14 resolution stemmed from a petition filed by Joseph Tan asking Comelec to cancel Reyes’ Certificate of Candidacy on the basis of several false representations she made in her CoC.
