Pacquiao faces disqualification case before Comelec

MANILA, Philippines - Senatorial aspirant and incumbent Sarangani Rep. Emmanuel "Manny" Pacquiao is facing a disqualification case before the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

A certain Ferdinand Sevilla filed a petition to declare Pacquiao as a non-serious or nuisance candidate.

Sevilla, a resident of Makati City, cited that out of 70 session days of the House of Representatives, Pacquiao had the most number of absences with only seven days present.

"While Pacquiao was consistently absent to train for his boxing bout, shoot his television programs, or shoot hoops in basketball games, he was denying his constituents representation," Sevilla said in his petition.

The petitioner also argued that Pacquiao "unfortunately fumbled as he raised questions that had been asked and answered" during one debate on the Reproductive Health Bill.

Pacquaio allegedly questioned provisions that have already been removed or amended in the previous sessions that he missed, Sevilla added.

According to the Omnibus Election Code of the Philippines, an aspirant may be declared as a nuisance candidate if proven that his/her certificate of candidacy "has been filed to put the election process in mockery or disrepute or to cause confusion among the voters by the similarity of the names of the registered candidates or by other circumstances or acts which clearly demonstrate that the candidate has no bona fide intention to run for the office for which the certificate of candidacy has been filed and thus prevent a faithful determination of the true will of the electorate."

Pacquiao heads the senatorial slate of the United Nationalist Alliance of the for the 2016 national elections.

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