Mikey Arroyo, Angelo Reyes given 5 days to answer disqualification cases

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has given controversial party-list nominees Juan Miguel "Mikey" Arroyo (AGP) and Angelo Reyes (1-UTAK) five days to formally answer the disqualification cases filed against them. In a hearing Tuesday, Comelec Second Division head Nicodemo Ferrer asked the camps of Arroyo and Reyes to submit within five days a memorandum explaining why they should not be disqualified as party-list nominees. AGP, or Ang Galing Pinoy, supposedly represents security guards while 1-UTAK represents drivers and operators of public transportation. At least three disqualification cases have been filed against Arroyo, eldest son of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and the incumbent congressman of the second district of Pampanga, while one has been lodged against Reyes, a former military general whose last Cabinet portfolio was the energy department. The petitioners said Arroyo and Reyes do not represent the marginalized sector they seek to represent in the House of Representatives. Militant group Akbayan said the Comelec should disqualify Arroyo and other AGP nominees for failing to comply with a requirement mandated by the law. Comelec Resolution 8807 requires party-list groups to submit documentary evidence to prove that their nominees truly belong to the marginalized and underrepresented sector they seek to represent. Transport group Pinag-isang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Opereytor Nationwide (Piston) has backed the disqualification case against Reyes. Piston asserted that Reyes does not protect the interests of drivers and operators. Ferrer said the petitioners also have five days to put in writing the bases for their disqualification case. He said once the memoranda have been submitted, the cases would be deemed for resolution. - Kimberly Jane Tan/KBK/RSJ, GMANews.TV