Votes for Manila bet disallowed

The Board of Canvassers for the city of Manila ruled yesterday that votes cast for Rep. Harry Angping and his wife Zenaida, who had substituted for him following his disqualification for a congressional seat, would not be canvassed anymore.

Lawyer Ramon Rosello, chairman of the Manila Comelec Board of Canvassers cited Comelec en banc Resolution 6823 that the lawmaker’s withdrawal of his certificate of candidacy and substitution had been anteceded by a resolution disqualifying him for not being a Filipino.

The announcement triggered a debate between Angping’s lawyer Sixto Brillantes and lawyer Romulo Macalintal, legal counsel of Miles Roces, his rival for the congressional seat in the city’s third district.

Brillantes said the board was not supposed to rule on the matter, but Macalintal insisted that the Comelec ruling was very clear that the votes for Angping and his wife should not be counted.

After the lawyers argued for several minutes, Rosello upheld the ruling not to count the votes for the Angpings.

The board further resolved to proceed with the canvassing of the votes for the other candidates for the House of Representatives.

"The votes for Angping and his wife shall not be canvassed by the board unless so ordered otherwise by the Comelec," the resolution, signed by Rosello and Manila City Chief Prosecutor Ramon Garcia, board vice chairman and Ma. Luisa Quinones, board secretary, stated.

In a related development, the Supreme Court refused to issue an order suspending the proclamation of a winner in the Manila congressional race despite a petition filed by the Angpings.

However, the SC asked the Comelec and Roces to answer the congressman’s petition within five days.

Angping said the SC should nullify the resolution that disallowed his wife from being a substitute candidate.

However, the Comelec said it considered as moot and therefore invalid the withdrawal of Angping’s candidacy filed on May 3, three days after the poll body’s first division promulgated its decision.

The poll body disqualified Angping from the congressional race because it found out that he was not a natural-born Filipino citizen. He had served two terms in Congress.