Belmonte: Reyes remains as lawmaker

MANILA, Philippines - Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. yesterday said Marinduque Rep. Regina Ongsiako-Reyes remains a member of the House of Representatives even as the chamber’s leadership decides on its next move after the Supreme Court (SC) upheld her disqualification.

Belmonte, however, maintained that the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET) has jurisdiction over Reyes’ case under the Constitution since she has been duly proclaimed as winner and sworn into office.

“Remember that she was proclaimed, and that is not something unimportant to us because under the Constitution, the HRET – which is not a creation of the House but of the Constitution – supposedly has jurisdiction over all of these matters so we want to be sure that the HRET is not being rendered useless (by the SC ruling),” Belmonte told reporters.

He said the House leadership is waiting for a copy of the SC ruling for study and to help it decide on its next move.

The disqualification case against Reyes stemmed from allegations that she is a US citizen, which she has repeatedly denied and showed documents to prove that she is a Filipino citizen.

The complaint against her was pushed by her defeated rival, former Marinduque congressman Lord Allan Velasco, son of SC Associate Justice Presbitero Velasco.

Velasco currently chairs the HRET, where the case is also lodged.

The SC on Tuesday denied with finality Reyes’ second motion for reconsideration that sought to reverse its earlier ruling upholding her disqualification in the May 13 polls by the Commission on Elections.