Think about it
Basista mayoral row still unresolved
By Jun Velasco
“For the mountains may depart and the hills disappear, but even then I will remain loyal to you. My covenant will of blessing will never be broken,” says the Lord who has mercy on you,”— Isaiah 54:10
IF you are a Dagupeño—a resident, a transient or a plain passer-by—you’d be invariably asked by visitors about the health status of Dagupan Mayor Benjie Lim. It’s become an unending topic, yes, now a household word everywhere.
Of course, like the rest of many others, you are as confused as those inquiring about it.
It would probably be for the good of everyone if the confusion is laid to rest even at this late hour—the 12th day after the May 13 midterm elections.
Mayor-elect Belen Fernandez, who is similarly situated, must now be feeling uneasy as she could only act with 100 percent certainty on certain specific duties vis-a-vis her mayoral powers only after June 30.
The ball, of course, is on the Lims’ court. And may it bounce to where it should as soon as possible to take away the anxiety and confusion from the harassed minds of Dagupeños and the city’s habitués.
Also, in the meantime, let’s continue praying for Benjie’s soonest recovery from whatever ailment that has befallen him.
* * * *
The 2-mile wide Tornado that descended on the state of Oklahoma in the U.S., is the latest evidence of Mother Earth going on a spin.
This column has always held that man’s abuse of the environment and the natural calamities — which have their roots anyway on inhuman cruelty – are integral to his existence.
Tornadoes, typhoons and floods, earthquakes are happening with sustained frequency, and surely, they are beyond man’s control. They will strike anytime when nobody is looking … like a thief in the night.
We always talk, make resolve, vow to make up for our sins, and bang our heads to face up to our responsibilities, trying hard to be a good neighbor, a fellow human being, real Christians and our brother’s keeper.
Let’s make a small start somewhere. This little decision will magnify in the eyes of Lord if done with childlike sincerity, right, Ptr. Boy?
* * * *
A wit perfectly saw again the evidence that every Election Day in the Philippines is also Iglesia ni Cristo day.
Not officially, but functionally. The solid congregation plays a role that makes it supremely powerful like a god, having shown its power to make and unmake winners and losers among candidates during elections. Who can beat that human power on earth? It’s more than a mark of genius.
We said once and we say it again that the founder of the organization should be the best organizer of all time.
And in light of everything being equal under heaven, the founder’s organizational skills are second to none. What? It violates the constitutional provision on the separation of church and state? Sour grapes! All government officials from the President down to last barangay kagawad religiously pay homage to the INC’s supremacy — even in the art of politics.
* * * *
The mayoral race in Basista town –days after the proclamation of Mayor-elect Manolito de Leon with a 67-vote majority against closest rival Joy Perez looks unsettled.
He, De Leon, is facing a disqualification case Joy has filed before the Commission on Elections.
Joy claims de Leon had remained a naturalized United States citizen when he filed his Certificate of Candidacy. Case was filed May 6, 2013 after the last day of the filing of certificates of candidacy.
Perez says despite his renunciation of his American citizenship in 2009 De Leon had been found to have used his U.S. Passport, indicating his nationality as US-American.
Leon was discovered to have first used his U.S. Passport No. 22140020 in departing from the Philippines on September 10, 2011 and again on June 26, 2012, using U.S. Passport No. 221440020 in a similar trip from the Philippines.
Both incidents were on the official records of the Bureau of Immigration.
“All these occurred after he had pledged his Oath of Allegiance to the Philippines and executed an Affidavit of Renunciation of his American citizenship and before he filed his COC for re-election for mayor of Basista, Pangasinan,” Perez said.
Perez says by using his U.S. passport in his travel, “de Leon must be deemed to have recanted his Oath of Renunciation of his U.S. citizenship that was then required to qualify him for Filipino citizenship … but by using his U.S. passport, he nevertheless repudiated his very oath of renunciation.”
Perez and her lawyers invoked a previous Supreme Court decision (Maquiling vs. COMELEC) which ruled that the “…the act of using a foreign passport…is nevertheless an act which repudiates the very oath of renunciation required for a former Filipino citizen who is also a citizen of another country to be qualified to run for elective position.”
In the previous case that happened in 2009, the Supreme Court ruled that “…the respondent’s use of his US passport on April 14, 2009, or just eleven days after he renounced his American citizenship, he recanted the Oath of Renunciation.”
The Supreme court in that 2009 case concluded that the act of “…using a foreign passport after renouncing one’s foreign citizenship is fatal to Arnado’s bid for public office, as it effectively imposed on him a disqualification to run for an elective local position.”
Petitioner Perez asked the Comelec to proclaim her as the duly elected mayor in case of De Leon’s disqualification.
Share your Comments or Reactions
Powered by Facebook Comments
