Prosecutors junk perjury raps vs. defeated San Fernando bet

Defeated San Fernando town mayoralty candidate Renee Canoy scored against political rival and elected mayor Neneth Reluya after the provincial prosecutor’s office dismissed a perjury case Reluya filed for lack of merit.

The case stemmed from an objection filed by Canoy to include in the canvass of election returns from precinct 88-A of barangay Panadtaran wherein the certificates of votes showed that another mayoralty candidate Erico Enad got 32 votes.

Canoy, however, signed another certificate under oath which showed that Enad only obtained 19 votes, thus, the complaint for perjury filed by Reluya.

Reluya sought for the indictment of Canoy for allegedly committing perjury when she signed two certificates bearing different number of votes for Enad.

Provincial prosecutor Pepita Jane Petralba dismissed the case saying that the adverse result of an objection filed by Canoy does not make the act wrongful and does not merit her to be subjected to prosecution.

The prosecutor sustained Canoy’s defense that she never had any participation in the preparation of the certificates in question. Canoy said she signed the verification prepared by her lawyers in good faith to support their objection on the inclusion of the election returns from precinct 88-A.

She said she did not know that the other certification she signed only shows that candidate Enad got 19 votes.

In dismissing the complaint, Petralba said that, “the crime of perjury could not have been meant to impose a penalty on the right to litigate or complain as a matter perceived by the complaining party as disadvantageous to him.”

The prosecutor added that to charge Canoy of perjury because of two conflicting certificates of votes that she had no hand in preparing may amount to an imposition of a premium on the right to redress grievances before the proper office. — Fred P. Languido/QSB