Comelec disqualifies Ecija mayoral bet for lack of residency

PALAYAN CITY , Philippines  – The Commission on Elections disqualified on Wednesday the mayoral candidate of the ruling Lakas-CMD-Kampi in this city for lacking the residency status required by law.

In a seven-page resolution, the Comelec’s First Division cancelled the certificate of candidacy of Reynaldo Garcia as it gave due course to the petition filed on Dec. 11,2009 by Bienvenido Ramos, a resident of Palayan.

The resolution was signed by Presiding Commissioner Rene Sarmiento and Commissioners Armando Velasco and Gregorio Larrazabal.

In his petition, Ramos sought the cancellation of the COC of Garcia, a reserved Air Force colonel, for containing material representation in stating he is a resident of Barangay Santolan here and a registered voter of Precinct 93-A. For purposes of circumventing the law, the petition said that Ramos filed his COC stating he is a resident of Santolan for six months already prior to the registration.

Ramos said Garcia failed to meet the one-year residency requirement prescribed by Section 39 of the Local Government Code. For stating he is a resident of Santolan, Ramos said Garcia declared a falsehood constituting a ground for cancellation of his COC.

Ramos attached in his petition the voter’s certification in the name of Garcia, and certifications by the barangay chairman of Santolan, Teresita Sacbayen, city social welfare and development officer Pepito de Fiesta, city assessor Norma Saclolo and city engineer Cesar Estacio.