The Comelec yesterday affirmed Gil’s disqualification with a brief dismissal of Gil’s appeal.
Ruling almost unanimously, the seven-member poll body junked Gil’s motion for reconsideration, "there being no new substantial matters raised therein to warrant the reversal of the finding in the assailed resolution declaring (Gil) as a nuisance candidate."
Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano signed the decision, but indicated he took "no part" in it.
Gil’s lawyer, Elcid Marcos, who is running for senator under the banner of Gil’s Partido Isang Bansa Isang Diwa (PIBID), is expected to take the case to the Supreme Court, as he vowed when the Comelec’s second division ruled two weeks ago to disqualify Gil from the presidential derby.
In disqualifying Gil, the Comelec’s second division cited the businessman’s much publicized failure to pay his hotel bills in Cagayan de Oro City at the start of his campaign and his repeated promise to pay off the country’s billion dollar debts. Gil was unwavering in his promise to pay the country’s foreign debt even after the decision of the Comelec’s second division was handed down.
The Comelec’s second division also cited in its decision the fact that at least four PIBID senatorial candidates have pulled out of the party and are running as independent candidates.
The disqualification case against Gil was filed by Jesus is Lord Movement (JIL) leader and Bangon Pilipinas Movement (BPM) standard-bearer Eddie Villanueva.
In his petition against Gil, Villanueva said voters may confuse him for Gil, or his votes may be counted in Gil’s favor because they have the same first name.
A separate petition filed by Villanueva’s lawyers seeking the delisting of PIBID as a political party is also pending before the Comelec.
Gil has also filed a disqualification case against Villanueva.
For his part, Villanueva welcomed the Comelec decision and BPM spokesman Luis Sison urged Gil not to elevate his appeal to the Supreme Court, saying there are more pressing issues that require the tribunal’s focus.
"(Gil) should stop making efforts to bother key institutions of the government to sustain his ‘pain in the neck’ issues," Sison said in an interview.
He added that Gil should not waste his self-proclaimed billions adding that "if (Gil) really is serious in helping the country, he should just donate his money to charities."
Sison also said they are willing to face Gil before the Supreme Court, should he decide to pursue his motion for reconsideration, "but we are confident that the decision (of the high court) would still be favorable to us."
BPM officials also said they would pursue their case seeking the delisting of PIBID, which allegedly failed to meet election requirements in the 2001 polls, when Gil ran for the Senate and garnered less than one percent of the votes cast.
The BPM believes the Comelec should delist political parties that fail to garner at least 10 percent of the total votes cast, as prescribed in the Omnibus Election Code.
In Baliuag, Bulacan, Villanueva urged his supporters to pray and, if necessary, fast for 40 days, until he is proclaimed president following the May 10 elections.
Villanueva, who kicked off his 40-day countdown to the presidency and national renewal Wednesday, told the crowd of supporters who attended his campaign sortie in Baliuag town that his rivals are determined to hold on to power and may even employ dirty tricks, such as poll fraud, come election day.
Villanueva told The STAR that the administration’s campaign against terrorism could be a political gimmick and that it could lead to the declaration of a state of emergency, which the Arroyo administration could use to enable President Arroyo to remain in power.
The scenario painted by Villanueva is similar to the state of emergency that presaged then President Ferdinand Marcos’ declaration of martial law in 1972.
In a stopover at the town plaza, Villanueva urged his supporters to be vigilant in guarding ballot boxes to ensure the integrity and credibility of the elections.
BPM has given its members and supporters a seven-point covenant that they must implement in support of Villanueva and his platform of national renewal founded on morality and integrity.
Part of that covenant is doing duty as a poll watcher during the elections and promising to pray for Villanueva until he wins the presidency.
Villanueva was born in the Bulacan town of Bocaue. — With Edu Punay and James Mananghaya