THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) yesterday dismissed the disqualification case filed against Anti-Crime and Terrorism Community Involvement and Support (ACT-CIS) party-list 4th nominee Erwin Tulfo, effectively bringing the former broadcaster closer to a seat in the House of Representatives.
In its 15-page resolution, the Comelec Second Division ruled to dismiss the petition filed by lawyer Moises Tolentino Jr., saying this was beyond the jurisdiction of the poll body.
“In this case, nothing in the law and rules grant upon the Commission the jurisdiction to act on the instant petition for disqualification,” said the Comelec 2nd Division, adding: “Wherefore, premises considered, the Petition is dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.”
The poll body said Tolentino’s petition was filed way beyond the deadline set by the Comelec.
Resolution No. 9366 of the Comelec provides that a petition for disqualification of party-list nominees shall be filed “at any day not later than the date of proclamation”.
“ACT-CIS was proclaimed on 26 May 2022. Thus, any petition for disqualification of nominees of ACT-CIS should have been filed not later than 26 May 2022,” it pointed out.
“Therefore, being filed on 01 March 2023, the instant Petition was filed out of time,” added the Commission.
To recall, ACT-CIS was the top vote getter in the May 2022 party-list race after receiving 2,111,091 votes.
Having the highest number of party-list votes, ACT-CIS secured three seats in Congress and were, subsequently, occupied by the first three nominees, namely Edvic Yap, Jocelyn Tulfo, and Jeffrey Soriano.
But last February 2023, Soriano resigned as the third nominee of ACT-CIS, leaving his seat vacant.
Being the 4th nominee of the party-list, Tulfo was supposed to immediately assume the seat vacated by Soriano.
But prior to the assumption of Tulfo, Tolentino filed a petition for disqualification at the Comelec, which resulted to the temporary suspension of his proclamation.
Asked if Tulfo can already be proclaimed as party-list representative, Comelec chairman George Garcia said not yet because Comelec 2nd Division ruling is still subject to a Motion for Reconsideration (MR) before the Commission en banc.
