Two DQ cases, one dismissed, the other decided with finality, now in Comelec's hands

View of Manila Bay. The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is set to act on a petition filed by Cong. Lord Allan Velasco in the matter of declaring null and void the proceedings of the provincial board of canvassers and the subsequent proclamation of Regina O. Reyes.

2 ‘Americans’ elected solons of Nueva Ecija, Marinduque

Updated by: bongNational NewsMay 27, 2013

Reposted from Philippines Today

By JOE LEUTERIO
Special to Philippines Today

BOAC, Marinduque (PhilAmPress) – A supposedly American citizen has won as congresswoman in the lone district of Marinduque and another in the fourth district of Nueva Ecija.

Regina Reyes, daughter of reelected Marinduque Governor Carmencita Reyes who has been declared as an American citizen by the Commission on Elections, won over reelectionist Rep. Lord Allan Jay Velasco and was proclaimed by the board of canvassers.

In Nueva Ecija, Magnolia Rose Antonino Nadres, 32. daughter of outgoing Rep. Rodolfo Antonino, won the congressional race in the fourth district which covers Gapan City and Nueva Ecija towns of Cabiao, Gen. Tinio, Jaen, Penaranda, San Isidro, San Leonardo and San Antonio. 

Unlike the Reyes case, the Comelec dismissed “for lack of merit” the disqualification case filed against Nadres, known as Megan, for having been filed beyond the reglamentory period.In dismissing the petition against Nadres, the Comelec’s First Division said the petition was filed four months after the period to file cancelation of a certificate of candidacy had lapsed.

Nadres had acknowledged that she was born in San Mateo County in the Bay Area of San Francisco, California but that she is a Filipino citizen by birth because while she was born in the United States, her parents, Rep. Antonino and Rosa Marina Caram, are both Filipino citizens. She said that since the Philippines follows the principle of jus sanguinis, she followed the nationality of her parents, regardless of where she was born.

The Bureau of Immigration (BI), she added, also issued to her in 1996 an order recognizing her as a natural-born Filipino citizen.

Congressman Velasco, son of Supreme Court Associate Justice Presbiterio Velasco, said the provincial board of canvassers  proclaimed  Reyes despite a ruling by the Comelec en banc declaring her a US citizen and “ineligible for the position of representative."

“The proclamation was a brazen defiance and blatant disregard of the power and authority of the Comelec en banc,” said Velasco, citing its memorandum on March 27declaring her a US citizen.

The three-member provincial board proclaimed Reyes as elected one day after the May 13 mid-term elections. Velasco questioned Reyes’ declaration as “irregular, illegal and premature.”

On the same day, the Comelec en banc released its decision denying with finality Reyes’  motion for reconsideration. Velasco said the board of canvassers should have waited for the Supreme Court to take action on the issue after the decision was challenged in court because Reyes was not qualified for the position.

He said he will take legal actions against the “highly anomalous and premature proclamation of Reyes because the canvassers should have waited for the Supreme Court to act on the issue.

The people of Marinduque were surprised at the proclamation of Reyes because the canvassers were under the supervision of the Comelec and it should have followed its orders.

“They (people of Marinduque) are aghast at the thought that a US citizen will represent them in the House or Representatives, Velasco said. The constitution says that only a natural born Filipino citizen is qualified to become a congressman,” Velasco said.