JDV’s lawyers file case vs opponents for vote-buying

DAGUPAN CITY – Lawyers of House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. filed a petition for the disqualification of congressional candidate Benjamin Lim and his son, mayoralty candidate Brian Lim, before the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in Manila on Friday.

Lawyer Jack Castañeda, head of De Venecia’s legal panel, filed the petition before the Law Department of the Comelec in Manila.

Lim is running against De Venecia in Pangasinan’s fourth congressional district, while his son is fighting it out with resigned Immigration Commissioner Alipio Fernandez Jr. for mayor in this city.

A lawyer of the poll body who examined the petition "was sufficient in form."

The petition was based on sworn statements executed by 92 witnesses attesting to the massive vote-buying activities in Dagupan City and in the towns of Mangaldan, San Fabian, San Jacinto and Manaoag allegedly perpetuated by the Lims.

The witnesses stated that they were among hundreds given grocery items, wall clock, bread and other items, with photos and names of the Lims on the items or attached to them, including cash as high as P1,000 each.

Castañeda said the witnesses were "trusted and came out freely". All the witnesses said they want this election to be free of the influence of money politics.

The last witness to execute her affidavit was a public school teacher of the Mangaldan National High School, who said they were called by Lim’s coordinator to a meeting inside the campus on April 23 and were given gift checks later.

The Lims, on the other hand, threw similar accusation against De Venecia but no case was filed yet as of press time.