THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) has the mandate to disqualify Anti-Crime and Terrorism Community Involvement and Support (ACT-CIS) party-list 4th nominee Erwin Tulfo from being a member of the House of Representatives.
This was insisted by petitioner lawyer Moises Tolentino Jr. in his 18-page Motion for Reconsideration (MR) filed late Monday where he said that the Comelec Second Division erred in saying it has no jurisdiction over the disqualification case.
“The ruling that the Commission has no jurisdiction over this case is patently contrary to law and jurisprudence,” said Tolentino, adding: “In view of the foregoing jurisprudence as it applies to the circumstances surrounding Respondent’s bid to sit as party-list representative, there should not be any doubt anymore that the ruling of the majority in the (Second) Division that the Commission has no jurisdiction over this case is legally incorrect.”
Last Thursday, the Comelec Second Division dismissed the disqualification case that Tolentino filed against Tulfo, ruling that it is already outside the Comelec’s jurisdiction to rule on the matter because the petition was filed way beyond the deadline set since ACT-CIS was already proclaimed last May 26, 2022.
But according to Tolentino, the date of reckoning for the actual proclamation could be contested since adopting “May 26, 2022” is “very wrong and utterly deceptive”.
He noted how Tulfo is yet to be issued his Certificate of Proclamation as seen in the House of Representatives making a formal request for the Comelec to issue a resolution proclaiming the nominee next-in-line for ACT-CIS.
“If we go by this argument, there will be no need for individual nominees to be proclaimed as party-list representative. Likewise, the issuance of individual Certificate of Proclamation would be unnecessary. Yet, this is the procedure the Comelec has been doing,” said Tolentino.
“The filing of this Petition on February 28, 2023 or nine months later than the date of the proclamation of the ACT-CIS party-list – in the view of the Division’s majority was unseasonable. For this reason, it ruled (wrongfully) that the Commission had already been divested of its jurisdiction and it could no longer act on the petition,” he added.
Tolentino noted how no less than the Supreme Court (SC) has ruled that the Comelec may still decide on disqualification cases when there is a lack of proclamation of the nominee.
Additionally, he said the SC said two other requirements are needed to pass the jurisdiction to the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET), particularly if the nominee has taken oath and if the nominee has assumed office as congressman.
