Jingjing Faelnar faces disqualification raps

Just a day after the deadline of the filing of certificates of candidacy, a candidate for barangay captain in Guadalupe was slapped with a disqualification complaint at the Office of the Provincial Election Supervisor.

Lawyer Salvador Solima filed a petition for disqualification against incumbent Guadalupe barangay captain Eugenio “Jingjing” Faelnar for violation of Section 1 of Republic Act 6679, otherwise known as the Omnibus Election Code.

Solima, who is also running for barangay captain in Guadalupe, filed his complaint at around 11 a.m. He claimed that Faelnar has been serving beyond the three-year term limit as village chief of Guadalupe.

Solima has asked the Comelec to deny the certificate of candidacy of Faelnar and declare it invalid.

Recently, Solima also filed criminal and administrative complaints against Faelnar for dishonesty, grave misconduct and malversation of public funds and property worth close to P5 million.

Solima accused Faelnar of amassing P3.6 million in properties unascertained for and close to P1.2 million in unaccounted funds.

But Faelnar had denied such accusation and said that it was politically motivated since the complainant will be running against him as village chief in the barangay and SK elections.

Twenty minutes after, the second disqualification case was also filed with the Comelec provincial office against Pangan-an barangay captain aspirant Climaco Tatoy, Jr. for allegedly not being a resident of the barangay. 

Pangan-an barangay captain Vergelio Casiao claimed that Tatoy is not actually a resident of Pangan-an, Lapu-Lapu City and that he is residing in Manila for several years already.

In his two-page complaint, Casiao said that aside from the fact that Tatoy is not a resident of Pangan-an, “he is also disqualified to register as a voter as the law requires candidates to have at least six months residency…”

Casiao is asking the Comelec to declare the candidacy of Tatoy null and void.

Provincial election supervisor Lionel Marco Castillano said he will first study the cases before making a recommendation for each of the case.

Castillano said that he will then forward his recommendation to the Comelec en banc in Manila for final decision. — Gerome M. Dalipe/MEEV