Disqualification cases filed vs 6 Visayas candidates
With just days before the May 12 elections, six prominent candidates in the Visayas find themselves facing disqualification cases.
Reelectionist Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia, Mayor Janice Degamo of Pamplona town in Negros Oriental who is running in the province’s third congressional district, Bohol 1st District congressional bet John Geesnell “Baba” Yap II, reelectionist Mayor Bernardino Tacoy of Matag-ob town in Leyte, and Leyte’s 4th District Rep. Richard Gomez and his opponent for the congressional seat, Vicente Sofronio Veloso III, were named respondents in separate petitions for disqualification filed before the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
Garcia was threatened with at least three disqualification cases, one of which was filed by lawyer Julito Añora Jr., accusing her of violating the Election Code for disbursing provincial funds to sell rice at P20 per kilo barely a few days before the May 12 election.
“Selling rice for P20 per kilo influences voters. In fact, the program was suspended,” said lawyer Inocencio dela Cerna, Añora’s counsel.
Dela Cerna said additional disqualification cases would be filed next week against Garcia for various infractions, including the use of the province’s official newsletter.
Residency issue
Degamo was also the subject of a disqualification case over her residency in the third district’s Siaton town.
But Comelec-Negros Island Region Director Lionel Marco Castillano said Degamo remained a legitimate candidate pending a Comelec action on her case. A candidate, he said, can also seek further redress by going to the Supreme Court for an appeal and a temporary restraining order.
If Degamo wins and is declared the winner in Monday’s polls, Castillano said the complaint before Comelec could become moot and academic, “because questions on the qualification of a congressional bet who wins and has taken an oath will then have to be decided by the House Electoral Tribunal.”
Degamo (Lakas-CMD), the widow of the slain Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo, is facing Janice Teves (Liberal Party) and Reynaldo Lopez (independent).
Andrei Bon Tagum, lawyer of Degamo, said his client has yet to receive any copy of the complaint or summons from Comelec. Degamo transferred her registration as a voter to Siaton town on May 6, 2024, which is allowed under the law because she intended to run for the third district seat, Tagum said.
He said Degamo has not only followed the one-year residency requirement prior to an election but also owns a house in Barangay Bonawon and runs a fishing business in the town.
Vote-buying
In Bohol, a disqualification complaint was filed against Yap on May 7 by five residents of Panglao town after he was allegedly caught on video promising cash incentives to voters, an act considered vote-buying.
Yap, a former mayor of Tagbilaran City, is running for the first district seat against reelectionist Rep. Edgar Chatto, lawyer Jordan Pizarras and Marybelle dela Serna.
The complainants testified under oath that they personally saw a video posted on the Facebook page of “Voice of Boholanon” on April 26 where Yap allegedly declared that he would give P5,000 to his constituents and P20,000 if one is a senior citizen.
The complainants claimed this statement was clearly made in the context of campaign activities and was intended to influence or induce voters.
Yap, for his part, said he has yet to receive a copy of the complaint, which, he said, he would answer in the proper venue.
Character attacks
Gomez, meanwhile, faced two separate disqualification cases that were filed against him on May 7, one of which he was accused by Matag-ob Councilor Jose Yap of violating the elections law by calling his rival Vicente Veloso III an alleged “drug protector” during an April 4 campaign rally in Barangay Tabunok, Palompon.
Yap said the remark constitutes a violation of Section 261 of the Omnibus Election Code which prohibits false accusations or character attacks against opponents during the campaign period.
Yap also accused Gomez of alleged premature campaign activity held on Jan. 12 in Matag-ob, a town in the fourth district, or before the start of the local campaign period on March 28, which was attended by supporters in blue uniforms, a color associated with Gomez, and with alleged armed men present.
But a day later, Gomez’s wife, Ormoc City Mayor Lucy Torres-Gomez, also filed disqualification cases against the allied Tacoy and Veloso over threats they allegedly made directed at their opponents.
In her complaint, Lucy cited a video taken on Oct. 4, 2024, where Veloso allegedly announced during a public address that he was ready to kill if needed, that were “serious and dangerous threats meant to terrorize political opponents and discourage anyone from running against or campaigning against him.”
Lucy also separately accused Tacoy of making a similar threat in an Oct. 2, 2024, public address directed to those who would attempt to take control of Matag-ob.
Veloso’s and Tacoy’s camps begged off from issuing statements regarding the cases since they have not yet received copies of the complaints. —WITH REPORTS FROM JOEY GABIETA, CARLA P. GOMEZ, RUCHELLE DENICE DEMAISIP AND ADOR VINCENT MAYOL
