The House of Representatives is mandated to carry out the Supreme Court’s order to swear in Lord Allan Jay Velasco and include his name in its roll of members representing the lone district of Marinduque, according to law experts.
Former Integrated Bar of the Philippines president Vicente Joyas and former University of the East law dean Amado Valdez said House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. should honor and comply with the high tribunal’s decision granting Velasco’s plea for mandamus.
“Since the SC ruling is final, Velasco can just take his oath and assume the position,” said Valdez, who is also chairman emeritus of the Association of Philippine Law Schools.
“Congress must follow the decision,” said Joyas for his part, stressing that “the officers of the House of Representatives are vested by law to implement the order of the Supreme Court.”
Agreeing with Valdez, Joyas warned Belmonte and other officers of the House that contempt proceedings could be pursued against them if they would insist on defying the SC order.
“A contempt proceeding is always a remedy available to an aggrieved party in cases of disobedience to a lawful order of the court,” Joyas stressed.
He pointed out that Belmonte and the others could be sanctioned to pay a fine or be imprisoned, or both, if proven they have refused to implement the SC order.
On Jan. 12, 2016, the SC ruled that the administration of the oath and the registration of Velasco as the duly-elected congressman for Marinduque “are no longer a matter of discretion or judgment” on the part of Speaker Feliciano R. Belmonte Jr.
The SC said its decision is “immediately executory” as it granted Velasco’s petition for mandamus against Belmonte, House Secretary-General Marilyn Barua-Yap, and Reginal Ongsiako Reyes, his rival who had been disqualified as a congressional candidate by the Commission on Elections in the 2013 election.
Belmonte and Barua-Yap “are legally duty-bound to recognize Velasco as the duly elected Member of the House of Representatives for the Lone District of Marinduque in view of the ruling rendered by this Court and the Comelec’s compliance with the said ruling, now both final and executory,” the SC said.
Joyas and Valdez made the statement following reports quoting Belmonte as saying that they were “still studying” the SC decision, which he said, they received last Jan. 18.
As of press time, a check with the website of the House of Representatives showed that Reyes is still listed as House member for the lone district of Marinduque.
Other lawyers who requested anonymity said that even if a motion for reconsideration is filed, the House of Representatives should implement the executory decision of the SC.
“The implementation of the executory decision of the SC is a ministerial duty on part of the officials of the House of Representatives. There should be discretion,” they said.
Ruling favorably on Velasco’s petition, the SC said that “there is no longer any issue as to who is the rightful representative of the lone district of Marinduque” with the finality of its decision which affirmed the ruling of the Comelec that “correctly cancelled Reyes’ Certificate of Candidacy for member of the House of Representatives on the ground that she was ineligible for the subject position due to her failure to prove her Filipino citizenship and the requisite one-year residency in the province of Marinduque.”