Lawmaker blames SC for crisis in poll case

MANILA, Philippines - Mindoro Oriental Rep. Reynaldo Umali yesterday turned the tables on the Supreme Court (SC), saying it is the high tribunal that is causing a crisis by insisting on the disqualification of an elected member of the House of Representatives.

Umali was reacting to a statement given to The STAR by an unnamed justice, who protested a resolution he initiated, which upholds the jurisdiction of the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET) over the case of Marinduque Rep. Regina Reyes.

Some 167 members, or more than a majority of the 289-member House, have signed the resolution.

Umali said the House has every right to assert the jurisdiction of its electoral tribunal.

He said the Constitution provides that the HRET “shall have sole jurisdiction over the election, returns and qualification” of a member of the House.

“The Reyes case does not involve a constitutional issue, as claimed by this unnamed justice. It is a simple question of qualification, which the Constitution clearly says is within the jurisdiction of the HRET, where the Supreme Court has three members,” he said.

He pointed out that the SC has refused to resolve some cases involving votes being claimed by a loser against a winner, which fall within the purview of “election returns,” opting to refer them to the House tribunal.

“What is the difference between those cases and the case of Congresswoman Reyes? The difference is that Rep. Reyes’ opponent, who she beat by more than 4,000 votes, is the son of sitting Supreme Court Justice Presbitero Velasco,” Umali said.

Velasco chairs HRET. His wife Lorna is a House member representing party-list group Ang Mata’y Alagaan or AMA.

Umali asked the unnamed SC justice to come out in the open and not be afraid to criticize the assertion by the House of HRET’s jurisdiction over electoral cases. Six House members sit in the tribunal.

He has threatened to file an impeachment complaint against one or two justices.