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Fisherfolk group wants Yap disqualified as Bohol bet


An activist fisherfolk group filed on Tuesday a disqualification case against former agriculture secretary Arthur Yap, questioning his residency in Bohol province’s third district in which he is seeking a congressional post in May. In its petition filed with the Commission on Elections (Comelec), the Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) asserted that Yap’s real residence is in Pasig City, Metro Manila, and not in the third district of Bohol. In a statement, Pamalakaya said “Yap practices his profession and conducts his business in Metro Manila," and that his family has made it their permanent residence. “His visits in Bohol are infrequent, short, and transient," the group said, adding that he “does not have real, substantial, and material ties to the locality as to qualify him a resident" of Bohol’s third district. The fisherfolk group had earlier filed plunder and graft complaints against Yap and President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in January this year in connection with the alleged overpricing of P455-million ice-making machines acquired by the agriculture department. GMANews.TV tried to contact Yap to get his reaction to the latest Pamalakaya move but several calls to his mobile phone remained unanswered as of posting time. The Comelec recently junked the congressional candidacy of actor Richard Gomez on similar grounds questioning his residency in Leyte.—Pauline Nikka A. Corsino/JV, GMANews.TV

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