Elected Palawan gov asks SC to junk disqualification case

Elected Palawan governor Abraham Kahlil Mitra has asked the Supreme Court to declare as null and void a Commission on Elections (Comelec) resolution disqualifying him from the province’s gubernatorial race. In his five-page petition, Mitra, through his collaborating counsel former Senate President Jovito Salonga, also asked the SC to affirm his victory in the May 10 automated elections. The disqualification stemmed from the case filed by Mitra’s political rival, businessman Jose “Pepito" Alvarez, due to residency issues. Alvarez said Mitra claimed to be a resident of Aborlan town when he was known to live in Puerto Princesa City, which ceased to be a component city of Palawan in 2007. Alvarez said Mitra, a Liberal Party bet, violated the Local Government Code for failing to establish at least one year of residency in the province before the May 10 automated elections. But despite the disqualification order, Mitra was still considered a candidate for the gubernatorial post after the SC issued last May 7 a status quo ante order enjoining the Comelec from implementing a resolution canceling Mitra’s certificate of candidacy. The status quo ante order allowed Mitra to run in the May 10 gubernatorial elections. He was proclaimed last May 14. Salonga, in the petition, maintained that Mitra “has been a full-blooded Palaweño" contrary to Alvarez's claim. “Against the other candidate for governor who would benefit from his disqualification, it is the latter [Mitra] who can rightfully claim to be a true Palaweño, cognizant of all its need," Salonga said, referring to Alvarez. Salonga said the Comelec’s First Division’s finding that Mitra could not have resided in the “small, sparsely furnished room on the second floor of a farmhouse" is not a sufficient legal basis to rule that he is not a resident of Aborlan. He said the law does not require that the location of one’s residence be commensurate to his personal status to determine if he has transferred his residence. “What is required is a candidate’s intimacy with the place where he is seeking election or his possession of a detailed knowledge or deep understanding of the locality and its people," he said. - KBK, GMANews.TV