SC upholds Lucy's 2010 poll win

MANILA, Philippines - The Supreme Court (SC) has upheld the election of television personality Lucy Torres-Gomez as the representative of the fourth congressional district of Leyte in 2010.

In a two-page notice of resolution released yesterday, the SC affirmed the decision of the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET) last March 22 upholding the validity of her certificate of candidacy and votes cast for her as substitute candidate for her husband, actor Richard Gomez, who was disqualified by the Commission on Elections.

The SC junked the petition filed by her rival Eufrocino Codilla Jr. seeking a reversal of the HRET ruling.

The tribunal ruled that Codilla failed to prove his allegation that HRET erred in its findings.

“In any event, the petition would still be dismissed for failure to sufficiently show that any grave abuse of discretion was committed by the HRET in rendering the challenged decision and resolution which, on the contrary, appear to be in accord with the facts and applicable law and jurisprudence,” the SC said.

The SC also said Codilla failed to comply with the requirements under Rule 65 of the 1997 Rules of Civil Procedure in filing the petition for certiorari.

Specifically, the SC noted that Codilla failed to state the material dates showing when notice of the HRET judgment was received, when a motion for reconsideration, if any, was filed, and when notice of denial thereof was received.

These requirements, according to the SC, was necessary to determine whether the petition was filed on time pursuant to Section 4, Rule 65.