HRET affirms Lucy's poll win against Winnie

ORMOC CITY ,Philippines  — The House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal, in its promulgation on Thursday (March 22), upheld the victory of Rep. Lucy Torres Gomez (4th district, Leyte) in the 2010 elections against Eufrocino “Winnie” Codilla Jr. by “a margin of 24,701 votes.”

Penned by Supreme Court Associate Justice Presbitero Velasco, the decision got seven affirmative votes from Velasco himself, Associate Justices Diosdado Peralta and Lucas Bersamin, and Reps. Franklin Bautista (2nd dist., Davao del Sur), Joselito Andrew Mendoza (3rd dist., Bulacan), Justin Marc Chipeco (2nd dist., Laguna) and Ma. Theresa Bonoan-David (4th dist., Manila).

Representative Rufus Rodriguez (2nd dist., Cagayan de Oro City) did not sign the decision because he was on official leave while Rep. Rodolfo Albano Jr. (1st dist., Isabela) took “no part” in the voting.

Velasco, in the HRET decision he wrote, said Winnie failed to prove, as alleged in his complaint, that there were fraud and irregularities committed in the 2010 polls that resulted in Lucy’s win.

“The protestant’s (Winnie) only basis for his election protest is rooted in the allegation that protestee’s (Lucy) substitution is invalid” and “believes that he should have won the elections had protestee been disqualified by Comelec as she could not validly substitute her disqualified husband,” the decision states.

Velasco said this “is highly speculative for protestant to assume that he could have obtained the highest number of votes if the Comelec timely ruled that the protestee is disqualified” because the result showed that Lucy won with a big margin of 24,701 votes over Winnie.

Lucy became the official candidate of the Liberal Party in the district five days before the election as a substitute for her husband Richard Gomez who was earlier disqualified by the Comelec for “lack of residency requirements.”

Gomez appealed the decision of his disqualification but withdrew it a week before the elections, paving the way for Lucy’s substitution that was eventually approved by the Comelec.

And in a brilliant move by his lawyers led by Atty. Alex Avisado, withdrew his appeal a week before the elections, making it final and paving the way for Lucy’s substitution. The legal manuever caught the Codillas off-guard, and by then, Lucy’s substitution was approved by Comelec.

This substitution has been the subject of a case of quo warranto, filed by a third candidate Silverio Tagolino, questioning whether Lucy, who was installed in an official post, is really the person who should be occupying it.

Tagolino’s argument was that Lucy’s substitution of her husband Richard was invalid because the latter’s certificate of candidacy was already void from the start thus there was no candidate to be substituted. The Comelec however did not rule at the time to cancel Richard’s CoC.