Syjuco disqualification not yet final – KBL

MANILA, Philippines - Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL) standard bearer Augusto Syjuco’s disqualification is not yet final, party president Vicente Millora said yesterday.

Syjuco remains the KBL’s adopted candidate until the Commission on Elections (Comelec) rules on his motion for reconsideration on the decision declaring him a nuisance candidate, he added.

In his motion, Syjuco told the Comelec that the unverified petition to disqualify him has no legal effect, Millora said.

Under the Civil Code, any mandatory act against a mandatory provision of the law is void, according to Syjuco’s motion for reconsideration.

“The cancellation of the respondent’s certificate of candidacy (COC) was done without hearing, hence, it patently violates constitutional rights of the respondent to due process of law,” read the motion.

While the law prescribes that the hearing may be summary, a hearing must still be held, and in this case there was none, the motion added.

In a resolution dated Dec. 3, the Comelec’s Second Division cancelled Syjuco’s COC after finding the petition to declare him a nuisance candidate “meritorious.”

Syjuco has no bona fide intention to run for president, the Comelec Law Department said.

Syjuco wrote “NA” or not applicable in the entry for political party or coalition of political parties in his COC filed on Oct. 12.  

Syjuco failed to comply with the requirements of Comelec Resolution 9984 requiring prospective candidates to file a certificate of nomination and acceptance (CONA) from a political party, the Comelec division said.

“Syjuco’s curriculum vitae, awards and citations, albeit impressive, are of little evidentiary value in the absence of supporting documents that will bolster his claims,” the division said.

The Comelec division saw no clear proof of Syjuco’s “financial capability, campaign plan or political machinery to sustain the financial rigors of waging a nationwide campaign.”

However, Syjuco said he was an independent candidate when he filed his COC, and that the KBL later adopted him and filed his CONA with the support of party-list group ACTO alliance.

He had submitted a verified copy of his Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net worth of P303 million, Syjuco said.

He was a delegate to the 1971 Constitutional Convention, a former lawmaker and Cabinet member as the head of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), he added.

Syjuco also cited Article VII Section 2 of the Constitution, which provides that “No person may be elected President unless he is a natural-born citizen of the Philippines, a registered voter able to read and write, at least 40 years old on the day of election, and a resident of the Philippines immediately preceding such election.

“There is no question that the respondent has all of those qualifications,” read Syjuco’s motion for reconsideration.