Comelec voids victory of mayoral bet in Pampanga

SASMUAN, Pampanga – Barely two months into his term, a town mayor has been ordered to leave his post by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) for violating the election rules on residency.

The Comelec’s second division voided the election victory of Nardo Velasco of the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) after it was found out that he lacked the one-year residency requirement for candidates.

Commissioners Florentino Tuason Jr. and Nicodemo Ferrer signed the Comelec order.

Velasco won by some 600 votes over his only rival Mozart Panlaqui of the pro-administration Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino or Kampi.

Panlaqui, who filed a disqualification case against Velasco on April 2, got a copy of the order ahead of Comelec provincial supervisor Temmie Lambino.

Lambino said it was not clear if Panlaqui or Velasco’s vice mayor and running mate Fernando Baltazar would be allowed to take over the mayoral post once the Comelec order is enforced. But Lambino said he expected Velasco to appeal his case before the Comelec.

“There were similar cases decided upon by the Supreme Court in the past wherein the vice mayor took over the mayoral post, but the case of Velasco is different,” Lambino said.

Lambino said Comelec had informed Velasco of his questionable residency status but he appeared to have ignored it.

Lambino said the regional trial court of Guagua had in fact upheld the decision of the Comelec municipal office to drop Velasco’s name from the official list of local candidates.

In a resolution dated April 20, Lambino said that Velasco “has committed material representation when he stated that he is a registered voter of Precinct No. 103-A, Barangay Sta. Monica, municipality of Sasmuan, province of Pampanga, in entry No. 10 of his certificate of candidacy.”

A certification dated March 29 and signed by Fernando Flores, chairman of the town’s election registration board, and members Renato Velasco and Armando Saballe declared that Velasco “is not a registered voter of Precinct No 0103-A.”

Velasco’s nephew Pedro Velasco told The STAR that his uncle arrived from the United States only 10 months before the elections.

He said that his uncle was not able to vote last May 14 because he wasn’t a registered voter in this town.