Acosta asks Supreme Court to void Comelec disqualification

MANILA, Philippines - Controversial Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL) presidential candidate Vetellano Acosta filed yesterday a petition at the Supreme Court seeking to declare as null and void the Commission on Elections (Comelec) resolution disqualifying him as a presidential candidate for the 2010 elections.

In a 23-page petition, Acosta asked the SC to order the Comelec to allow him to run for president in the elections and count the votes he would obtain, considering that his name is still included in the final printed electronic ballots for the polls.

Acosta, through his lawyer Franco de Guzman, accused the Comelec of grave abuse of discretion when he was declared on March 4 as a “nuisance candidate.”

The petition said in issuing the resolution, the Comelec went beyond the issues raised by Liberal Party presidential candidate Benigno Aquino Jr. that he will be dislodged from his original position as first in the alphabetical order of candidates for president and replaced by Acosta, who has not been nominated by the KBL.

Acosta cited an earlier resolution of the Comelec denying his presidential bid because he is an independent candidate and cannot wage a nationwide campaign.

The Comelec, however, reconsidered its earlier decision and allowed Acosta to run because records showed that he is the official candidate of the KBL.

The petition said the Comelec wandered outside its confines and considered in its questioned resolution evidence never presented or offered at the only hearing last Jan. 29.