AMID allegations from a faction of the Magkakasama sa Sakahan Kaunlaran (Magsasaka), the Commission on Elections (Comelec) yesterday defended its decision to proclaim Robert Nazal, Jr. as representative of the party-list group in the 19th Congress.
In a press conference, Comelec Chairman George Garcia said there is nothing irregular with their decision to resolve an intra-party dispute between the two factions of Magsasaka, and ultimately proclaim Nazal as the rightful party-list nominee.
“The proclamation was made based on our own determination that this group (faction) was the right one to file the Manifestation of Intent to Participate. Therefore, their number 1 nominee based on our records should be proclaimed,” said Garcia.
He explained Nazal’s name surfaced after all five nominees of the winning faction withdrew, thereby forcing the party-list to submit a new list of nominees.
“All the five nominees of that group resigned. Therefore, the party-list submitted a new list, including the one the other group is questioning,” he said.
He said the decision was not “railroaded” as ample time was given to the other party to seek legal reprieve.
“We gave them 30 days to question our decision in the Magsasaka party-list case. Until the 30th day, there was no TRO (temporary restraining order) sent to us. So, we proceeded with the issuance ng certificate of finality in judgment and certificate of proclamation,” Garcia said.
As to allegations that Nazal is a former nominee of the Pasahero party-list group, Garcia said, “We looked into our records. His (Nazal) name was not among the list of nominees of that party-list.”
Nazal on October 10 took his oath as a member of the House of Representatives as Magsasaka party-list representative.
This was questioned by the group’s other faction, led by former Magsasaka party-list representative Argel Joseph Cabatbat, by asking the Supreme Court for a temporary restraining order against the Comelec’s decision favoring Nazal.
During the May 2022 polls, Magsasaka placed 46th in the party-list race after getting 276,889 votes, thereby earning one House seat.
