Denies reconsideration plea: Comelec affirms nullity of proclamation of Cari

BAYBAY CITY, Philippines – The Commission on Elections en banc’s resolution SPC No. 13-052, promulgated last April 23, upheld the Comelec First Division’s ruling on November 28, last year, nullifying the proclamation of Carmen Cari as the winner for the mayoralty post of this city in last year’s elections.

The Comelec denied the motion for reconsideration of Cari and declared instead that her proclamation had to be nullified due to the illegal composition of the City Board of Canvassers, which included the city civil registrar and City Social Welfare Development Officer, in violation of the election laws.

Citing Section 9 of Resolution No. 9648, the Comelec ruled that the clerk of court of the Regional Trial Court of Baybay City and a personnel from the Department of Education should have been appointed instead of the city civil registrar and the CSWD officer as substitutes for the CBOC members.

The en banc resolution also ordered the CBOC “to reconvene and canvass the votes for the position of mayor in the City of  Baybay, and thereafter proclaim the winning mayoralty candidate,” this time with the RTC clerk of court, as second member, and a DepEd representative, as third member.

Marilou Galenzoga, the petitioner and rival of Cari, together with lawyer Levi Baligod, of the PDAF whistleblowers’ fame, was happy with the latest development saying that the latest Comelec ruling raised the morale of the Baybayons who have been longing for justice and fair conduct of the elections.

The Cari–Petilla-Loreto clan have been lording over the political field in this part of Leyte province, where members of the clan, from grandparents to grandchildren and in-laws, have been entrenched in elected posts all at the same terms. (FREEMAN)