Disqualification of party-list group’s 2nd nominee sought

MANILA, Philippines - Party-list group OFW Family Club yesterday asked the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET) to immediately resolve its petition to disqualify its second nominee for being an American citizen.

According to petitioner Eduardo Morales, a member of the group, Juan Roses Revilla, is “ineligible” to become a member of Congress because he is not a natural-born Filipino citizen.

“Revilla remains a citizen of the United States up to now with US passport number 302181010 issued on Aug. 12, 2002,” he said in a statement.

Earlier, Morales filed a petition for Revilla’s disqualification before the Comelec, which has not acted on it.

Last May, the Comelec proclaimed the OFW Family Club winner of two House seats after obtaining a total of 750,753 votes in the May 13 polls.

These two seats are occupied by Roy Señeres and Revilla, being the first and second nominees, respectively.

Morales noted that the group had already passed a resolution expelling Revilla over his citizenship.

“The OFWFC cannot be a party to a culpable violation of the Constitution, which prohibits a foreigner to run for public office in the Philippines,” stated the May 27 resolution signed by all regional chapter presidents and officers.

He added that Señeres had given Revilla a chance to renounce his US citizen but he failed to do so.