Disqualified vice governor of Davao del Sur to stay in office
DAVAO CITY—Marc Douglas Cagas IV will remain as vice governor of Davao del Sur after the Supreme Court en banc issued a status quo ante order on a petition that questioned the Commission on Elections’ (Comelec) decision that disqualified him from last May’s elections and annulled his proclamation as the second-highest elected official in the province.
In an order dated Dec. 3 but which was only recently released to the media, the high court required the parties to observe the status quo prevailing before the issuance of the Comelec resolutions against Cagas’ continued stay in office.
The high court also required Cagas to “state the material date when the notice of judgment” by Comelec was received, when the motion for reconsideration, if there was any, was filed; and when the notice of the denial was received, to show whether the petition was filed on time according to the Rules of Civil Procedure, according to a copy of the order signed by Clerk of Court Marife Lomibag-Cuevas.
Earlier, on Oct. 17, the Comelec Second Division granted the petition for Cagas’ disqualification filed by Lanier Cadungog, a candidate for Davao del Sur’s vice governor post, in February this year.
Cadungog questioned whether Cagas was still allowed to run for an elective post despite his admission to having committed crimes involving “moral turpitude” over alleged misuse of his pork barrel fund when he was representative of the first congressional district of the province.
Comelec ruling
In its resolution, the Comelec Second Division cited a provision under the Omnibus Election Code that said a person is disqualified from running for any elective position if sentenced to a penalty of more than 18 months for a crime involving moral turpitude.
According to the poll body’s Second Division, the Sandiganbayan Special Third Division on May 13, 2022, had imposed the penalty of “prision correctional” upon Cagas, which, pursuant to Article 43 of the Revised Penal Code (RPC), carried with it the accessory penalty of perpetual special disqualification.
It also said that under Article 32 of the RPC, he would be perpetually deprived of the right to vote in any popular election for any public office or to be elected to such office.
On Nov. 12, the Comelec en banc affirmed the Second Division’s decision.
Plea bargain
Prior to his current post, Cagas, son of the late former Gov. Douglas Cagas, has also served as governor of the province (2021-2022) and congressman (2007-2013).
He was earlier charged before the Office of the Ombudsman with four counts of graft, three counts of malversation of public funds and malversation of public funds through falsification of public documents in connection with the misuse of his pork barrel funds that he allegedly channeled to nongovernment organizations linked to Janet Napoles between 2007 and 2009.
In 2021, Cagas entered a plea bargain agreement with the Office of the Special Prosecutor, in which he pleaded guilty to lesser offenses in exchange for the dropping of the original cases, which carried heavier prison terms. He also agreed to pay nearly P13 million, or the amount of the pork barrel funds he allegedly misused.
