JUST days before June 30, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) yesterday reinstated outgoing Marikina mayor Marcelino “Marcy” Teodoro as a candidate in the May 12 polls, and gave the go-signal for his proclamation as congressman of the city’s first legislative district.
The Comelec en banc, in a 36-page decision, reversed the December 11 ruling of its First Division, which cancelled Teodoro’s certificate of candidacy (COC).
Teodoro, in a statement, hailed the Comelec en banc’s decision, saying: “Democracy has prevailed. This is a victory for the people of Marikina.”
Senate minority leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, one of the petitioners, slammed the poll body’s ruling, saying the reversal of the First Division’s decision was a “mockery of the Constitution” and warned that this “opens the gates of electoral hell.”
He vowed to elevate the matter to the Supreme Court.
Comelec chairman George Garcia said Teodoro will need to wait for the ruling to become final and executory before he is proclaimed by the City Board of Canvassers.
This, he said, is because the petitioners may still file an appeal before the SC within five days.
“If the decision becomes final, only then can the City Board of Canvassers convene and proclaim the winning candidate,” he said.
In reversing the First Division’s ruling, the en banc said petitioners Pimentel, Katrina Marie Faye Marco, Angelu Estanislao and Ma. Luisa de Guzman failed to provide adequate proof that Teodoro committed material misrepresentation with regards to his residency in violation of Section 74 in relation to Section 78 of the Omnibus Election Code.
It said Teodoro was able to provide “direct, credible, and corroborated evidence” of his presence and reintegration into the first district of Marikina City.
“Their (petitioners) challenge rests primarily on documents and remote observations, none of which directly negate Respondent’s reacquisition of domicile in the 1st District, nor prove that he was ineligible to run for office therein,” the en banc said.
It also said that Teodoro is no stranger, or one who is unacquainted with the conditions and needs of the city’s first district.
“Being a previous representative of the 1st District for three consecutive terms, Respondent is clearly a person who is aware and has knowledge of the needs, difficulties, aspirations, potentials for growth and development, and all matters vital to the common welfare of the constituents of the 1st District of Marikina City,” it said.
The petitioners have claimed that Teodoro made material misrepresentation when he declared that he has been a resident of the first district of Marikina City for one year and one month so he can qualify for the post he is running for.
They claimed this was not true as Teodoro has been a resident of the city’s second district since January 2018, and only returned to the first district last September.
In the original decision, the Comelec First Division gave due course to the petitioner’s plea and cancelled Teodoro’s COC after he was found to have committed material misrepresentation in filing his COC last October.
Teodoro appealed the ruling to the en banc.
Teodoro won over Pimentel during the May 12 congressional race.
In lauding the Comelec en banc’s rulilng, Teodoro said: “I was able to clearly prove my actual and physical residency there. With this latest development, there is no more hindrance to my proclamation as the duly elected representative of our district.”
MOCKERY
Pimentel said the poll body’s decision “is not just a legal setback” but “clearly a betrayal of the Constitution and the democratic process. It sets a dangerous precedent and opens the gates of electoral hell.”
He said that “if residency requirements mandated by the Constitution can be brushed aside with a flip of a resolution, what stops others from gaming or manipulating the system?”
He insisted that Article VI, Section 6 of the Constitution clearly states that a congressional candidate must be a resident of the district for at least one year before the election.
Pimentel also slammed the poll body for the “turtle-paced” handling of the case, pointing out that it took 196 days to come up with a decision.
He said the Comelec’s failure to act promptly deprived the Marikina electorate of a clear and lawful choice and allowed a candidate to run under the cloud of a pending disqualification case.
“The Comelec’s inexcusable delay undermined the electoral process. Nearly 200 days passed before the Commission could decide on a simple question on residency and voter eligibility…We will exhaust all legal remedies,” he said. – With Christian Oineza and Raymond Africa
