With 'finality': Comelec affirms Abante’s win in Manila’s 6th District
MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has issued a certificate of finality affirming the proclamation of Bienvenido “Benny” Abante as the duly elected representative of Manila’s sixth district.
In a resolution dated June 7, the Comelec declared that its earlier ruling on June 30, which upheld Abante’s victory, is “immediately executory.”
It also directed Manila’s Board of Canvassers to convene and proclaim Abante as the official winner.
Rival disqualified. The June 30 resolution from the Comelec en banc upheld the decision of its Second Division issued on June 18, which nullified the earlier proclamation of Joey Uy as the winning candidate.
Uy had received 64,746 votes, while Abante got 63,358. However, the Comelec ruled that Uy did not meet the constitutional requirement of being a natural-born Filipino, since he only obtained Filipino citizenship through his father's naturalization.
Because of this, the poll body declared Abante as “the only qualified candidate who garnered the highest number of votes” in the district.
Appeal in the works. The Comelec also noted that the Supreme Court did not issue any restraining order within five days of the parties’ receipt of the resolution, further solidifying its ruling.
On July 1, Uy said he would appeal the Comelec’s order before the Supreme Court.
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