Perez wins election protest vs. De Leon in Basista
BASISTA—A businesswoman who ran and lost in the 2013 election was declared by the Commission on Elections as “the duly elected mayor of Basista, Pangasinan” in a decision of the poll body on January 27.
The new mayor is Jocelyn O. Perez who won in her petition before the Comelec for the disqualification of Manolito S. De Leon as a candidate for Mayor in that town in the 2013 election.
The decision was based on a resolution issued by signed by Comelec 2nd Division composed of Commissioner Luie Tito F. Guia, Arthur D. Lim and Elias R. Yusoph (presiding). It also disqualifies De Leon from running and holding local elective position.”
Following the decision, the Comelec has directed the reconvening of a special board of canvassers to proclaim Perez as the duly elected mayor of Basista.
The Comelec resolution stated that De Leon filed his certificate of candidacy to run for mayor on October 4, 2012. Perez also filed her CoC for the same position.
On May 6, 2013, Perez filed a petition before the poll body charging that “De Leon is a dual citizen who is barred from running as Mayor.”
Perez cited a local government code “that disqualifies a person with dual citizenship to run for any elected local position.”
Perez submitted a certification and travel records from the Bureau of Immigration and Deportation (BID) stating that “the name De Leon, Manolito Sagun appeared in its records and departed from the Philippines on September 10, 2011 and June 26, 2012 as an American Citizen.”
The Comelec gave weight to the Maquiling case in which the Supreme Court made a decision on who will be proclaimed in lieu of a disqualified candidate.
“It held that the proscription that a “wreath of victory cannot be transferred from an ineligible candidate to any other candidate when the sole question is the eligibility of the one receiving a plurality of the legally cast of votes” is a mere obiter dictum. As it stands, there is no longer a prohibition for the so-called “second placer” from being proclaimed as the true winner.
It also declared the pronouncement in Labo v. COMELEC that “when the disqualification and still cast their votes in favor said candidate, then the eligible candidate obtaining the next highest number of votes may be deemed elected.”
The decision added: “Maquiling teaches us that the candidacy of a person who possessed dual citizenship when he filed his CoC is void. Apparently, the effect is akin to a cancelled CoC. Such person is prohibited from running for local elective office. It is no longer important whether the decision to disqualify became final after the elections as long as the disqualification existed at the time the CoC was filed.
Applying Maquiling in the instant case, we hold that De Leon’s candidacy is void from the beginning. The votes he garnered are considered votes and should not be counted. Consequently, Perez garnered the highest number of votes and must be proclaimed the winner.”
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