SC asked to affirm disqualification of Palawan gov Mitra

A Palawan-based group has asked the Supreme Court to uphold the disqualification of newly elected provincial governor Abraham Kahlil Mitra by the Commission on Elections (Comelec). In a 38-page supplemental comment filed over the weekend, the Partidong Pagbabago ng Palawan (PPP) sought the nullification of Mitra’s proclamation after the Comelec earlier barred him from running due to residency issues. Mitra, a Liberal party bet and outgoing representative of the province’s second district, was earlier accused of violating the Local Government Code for failing to establish at least one year of residency in Palawan before the May 10 polls. Mitra had registered as a resident of Aborlan town for the May 10 polls but his opponents said he is a resident of Puerto Princesa, which ceased to be a component city of Palawan in 2007. However, he was allowed to run after securing a status quo order from the SC three days before the elections. Mitra was proclaimed as the province’s new governor with 146,847 votes over his closest rival, Jose Alvarez, who received 131,872 votes in the May 10 polls. The PPP, which supported the candidacy of Alvarez, asked the high court to proclaim Alvarez as the duly elected governor. “We therefore ask that the proclamation of petitioner Mitra as governor-elect of the Province of Palawan be annulled and all the legal effects resulting therefrom be set aside," said the group, which included PPP founding member and San Vicente town mayor Antonio Gonzales, and resident Orlando Balbon Jr. Gonzales and Balbon also asked the SC to decide on the case at the soonest possible time or at least before June 30, the inauguration date of newly elected officials. The two said the earlier decision of the Comelec should prevail over the mandate given by the electorate, citing in their petition a similar case in the 2007 polls where the SC nullified the proclamation of a mayor earlier disqualified by the poll body. “This Honorable Court held in a unanimous vote that when a candidate is disqualified before the date of the elections but still manages to win, his disqualification must stand because the rule of law, as framed by Congress representing the national will, must prevail over the will of the people given in a locality," they said. Their petition came about a week after Mitra asked the SC to nullify the earlier decision of Comelec disqualifying him from the race, following his victory in the polls. In a five-page petition filed May 21 through collaborating counsel former Senate President Jovito Salonga, Mitra asked the SC to dismiss all disqualification cases filed against him and affirm the mandate given to him by the province’s electorate. Salonga argued in the petition that the Comelec made a mistake in claiming that Mitra’s declared residency in a room in a farmhouse would not qualify as compliance to the law's residency requirement for candidates. He said even if Mitra transferred his residence from Puerto Princesa City to Aborlan town in Palawan, the residence requirement is still complied with as Aborlan is part of the province and also part of Mitra’s district when he was a congressman. “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," Salonga stated. Mitra is the son of former House Speaker Ramon Mitra, who hails from Aborlan. - with Jerrie Abella/KBK, GMANews.TV