SC orders House: Submit comment on Velasco petition

MANILA, Philippines - The Supreme Court (SC) has ordered the House of Representatives to answer the bid of former Marinduque congressman Lord Allan Jay Velasco to assume his post as representative of the lone district of the province after the disqualification of his rival, proclaimed Rep. Regina Reyes.

In their session yesterday, the SC justices approved the issuance of an order directing the House to submit a comment on the petition filed by Velasco last month seeking the issuance of a writ of mandamus ordering Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. to recognize him as duly elected winner in last year’s congressional race and administer his oath of office.

The SC gave the House 10 days from receipt of notice to comply with its order.

Velasco, son of SC Associate Justice Presbitero Velasco Jr. and Ang Mata’y Alagaan party-list Rep. Lorna Velasco, asked the SC to direct House secretary-general Emilia Barua-Yap to put his name in the House roll of members in place of Reyes.

Velasco also sought the issuance of a temporary restraining order to prohibit Reyes from further exercising congressional duties. 

Majority Leader and Mandaluyong City Rep. Neptali Gonzales Jr. said yesterday the House will answer Velasco’s petition.

Gonzales said the House leadership has not yet met on the development and there is no decision yet on who will draft the reply to the SC.

“We will file a comment but we have not yet met on this issue. I don’t know yet who the Speaker will assign to draft our reply,” Gonzales told The STAR.

He said the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET) has yet to resolve Velasco’s case against Reyes.

Some 170 lawmakers have signed a resolution asserting the power and authority of the HRET over such cases.

Velasco argued that since the SC ruling that effectively proclaimed him winner in the congressional contest became final and executory last December, it is Belmonte’s ministerial duty to administer his oath and allow him to assume and exercise the prerogatives of the Marinduque congressional seat. 

“In here, the only official in the House who can execute said final and executory decisions is the Speaker by reason of his being the head of the lower chamber of Congress. The implementation of final decisions and orders are solely within the scope of powers and duties of the administrative or executive head of the House,” Velasco said. 

Velasco alleged that the refusal of Belmonte and Barua-Yap to perform their legal and ministerial duty to recognize him as House member is “unlawful.”

Velasco said he has “clear legal right and basis” in seeking relief from the SC, which upheld with finality last year the disqualification of Reyes in the election for supposedly being a dual citizen.

In its ruling in June 2013, the SC held that Reyes failed to present any legal and factual basis to support her argument that while she got her US citizenship after marrying an American citizen, she has not yet undergone naturalization.

Reyes, who ran under the Liberal Party, unseated Velasco of the National Unity Party, after local officials of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) proclaimed her.

The poll body, however, nullified her proclamation after determining her supposed dual citizenship.

In March last year, the Comelec’s First Division issued a resolution canceling Reyes’ certificate of candidacy on the ground that she is not a natural-born Filipino citizen, thus ineligible to run and win in an election under Section 6, Article VI of the Constitution.

On May 14, 2013, the Comelec affirmed the First Division’s ruling, prompting Reyes to elevate the case to the SC. In June last year, the SC dismissed Reyes’ petition and upheld the Comelec ruling.

The SC junked the first motion for reconsideration last October and made final its ruling last December after denying Reyes’ second motion for reconsideration. – With Paolo Romero