Mayor Tomas Osmeña’s wife, Margarita “Margot” Osmeña, yesterday claimed that a United States Embassy official has clarified to her that there is no need to issue a certification that she had abandoned her US Embassy-issued resident alien card or “green card” to prove that she is no longer a resident of the foreign country.
Margot, who is running as councilor in the city’s south district, told The FREEMAN yesterday that she had inquired from the US embassy in Manila on how to secure an approved copy of her application to abandon her “green card” but she was advised to direct her request to their office in the United States and usually the reply is expected to be released within eight months.
The mayor’s wife disclosed that the US embassy official told her that the official document that will be released by the Department of Homeland Security/US Citizenship and Immigration Service after several months of waiting is the same copy of her application for the abandonment of the green card that she had filed with the US Embassy.
“Dili g’yod diay magkinahanglan pa nga i-approve sa US Government ang application sa usa ka green card holder nga gi-abandon na niya ang iyang pagka resident alien sa United States,” Margot explained, basing on the US Embassy official’s statement.
Margot issued the clarification after Rajeni Velez Dy, a candidate for councilor under the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP) filed a disqualification case against her, saying she should prove that she is no longer a permanent resident of the United States, otherwise she will be disqualified to run for an elective position here.
Dy also said granting that the applications of Margot and Ronald Cuenco, another candidate for councilor under the Bando Osmeña Pundok-Kauswagan (BOPK), have been approved already by the US Government, Cuenco still failed to comply with the one year residency requirement in the Philippines before the filing of his candidacy.
Dave Duallo, Dy’s counsel, said that the Supreme Court has already ruled that acquiring a permanent resident status in the United States means that the holders had abandoned their domicile and residence in the Philippines that is why they need stay here for at least one year period if they want to run for any government elective positions.
The election records showed that while Margot had filed her application to abandon her resident alien status on July 05, 2007, Ronald Cuenco filed his application only last November 24, 2009.
The BOPK candidates had conducted a “pulong-pulong” in barangays Sinsin, Sudlon 1 and Sudlon II yesterday, but Cuenco did not show up in these events. — Rene U. Borromeo/WAB