THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) has received the petition of Manila 6th District congressman-elect Joey Uy seeking to overturn the poll body’s decision invalidating his victory in the recent elections for alleged misrepresentation.
The Comelec 2nd Division annulled Uy’s proclamation and recognized instead reelectionist and second-place finisher Bienvenido Abante, as the legitimate winner.
Uy was disqualified after the Comelec determined that he did not meet the constitutional requirement for natural-born Filipino as mandated by the Constitution.
In his motion for reconsideration, Uy maintained that he is a natural-born Filipino, asserting that this claim is “clearly supported by factual evidence and was made in good faith,” and that his “personal history consistently confirms his authentic Filipino identity.”
In its ruling on June 18, the Comelec upheld Abante’s claim that Uy submitted a false declaration regarding his citizenship, in effect constituting material misrepresentation in his certificate of candidacy (COC).
Abante argued that Uy was not a Filipino citizen at birth by virtue of the 1935 Charter.
In his plea, Uy cited pertinent provisions of the law.
He maintained that marriage to a foreign does not cause the loss of Filipino citizenship.
He also asserted that those born of Filipino mothers with an alien father, being natural-born Filipino citizens, need not elect Philippine citizenship.
He also said natural-born Filipino citizens include those born of Filipino mothers with an alien father.
“The Comelec 2nd Division based its decision on identification certificates that were not only uncertified and sourced anonymously, but also obtained unlawfully, containing confidential and sensitive personal information whose authenticity is highly questionable,” Uy’s petition read.
His lawyer, Edward Gialogo, told reporters that the Comelec should not have considered Abante’s petition as a request to annul someone’s certificate of candidacy, especially since the deadline for such filings had already passed.
“According to Section 78 of our Election Code, the deadline for submitting a petition to cancel a COC due to misrepresentation is 25 days following the COC filing,” Gialogo pointed out.
The COC filing period occurred in October 2024, while Abante’s petition to suspend Uy’s proclamation was submitted on May 22. Since the case is not yet resolved,
Uy is set to take the congressional seat in Manila on June 30, as he has already been proclaimed by Comelec following the election day. Even if he loses the case at the Comelec en banc, he retains the option to make a final appeal to the Supreme Court., the lawyer explained.
