Lanao mayor loses post for using US passport

MANILA, Philippines - For using an American passport, Mayor Rommel Arnado of Kauswagan town in Lanao del Norte lost his post and the chance to be re-elected in next week’s elections.

In a full-court session last April 16, the Supreme Court (SC) disqualified him and granted a petition filed by his closest rival in the 2010 mayoralty race, Casan Maquiling.

The SC, in a ruling released yesterday, said Arnado continued to use his American passport even after he renounced his US citizenship. This act “amounts to recantation of his oath of renunciation thus disqualifying him as a candidate for the post of mayor,” the high court said.

The law requires a person with dual citizenship to renounce the other citizenship to be able to run in Philippine elections.

Arnado was ordered to vacate his post and allow Maquiling to take over as duly elected mayor in the May 10, 2010 polls. He was also disqualified to run for a fresh term in the May 13 elections.