“Human nature dictates that it was absurd for all five original nominees, the first nominee in particular, to resign en masse after P3PWD won a seat. The public suspects an anomaly and these nominees have a lot of explaining to do”
Under the law, a partylist group participating in a congressional election must submit to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) a list of five nominees. If the partylist group gets enough votes, the first nominee gets the first seat; the second gets the second seat; and the third gets the last one.
In the event that any of the first three nominees are unable to assume office, the fourth and fifth nominees, in that order, are entitled to succeed, depending on the number of vacancies that may arise.
Likewise, the list of nominees submitted cannot be amended anymore once the deadline for substitution of nominees, (November 15, 2021 for the May 2022 election) lapses.
The only exception to the strictly enforced deadline is when any of the five nominees dies or is permanently incapacitated before election day.
Voluntary resignation by any of the five nominees is not a valid ground for substitution of nominees once the deadline lapses.
These restrictions are clear in the pertinent election regulations promulgated by the Comelec.
The partylist group P3PWD (Komunidad ng Pamilya, Pasyente at Persons with Disabilities) participated in the May 2022 congressional elections.
P3PWD’s five nominees are Grace Yeneza, Ira Paulo Pozon, Marianne Heidi Cruz Fullon, Peter Jonas David and Lily Grace Tiangco.
By the time the November 15, 2021 deadline for substitution of nominees had lapsed, none of the five nominees of P3PWD were officially substituted.
Days after the May 9, 2022 elections, P3PWD officially garnered about 391,174 votes, which entitles it to one seat in the House of Representatives of Congress. Pursuant to the list of nominees submitted by P3PWD, that seat belongs to Grace Yeneza.
On June 13, 2022, Yeneza and her group filed what appears to be their “resignation” from the P3PWD list of nominees. Thereafter, P3PWD’s secretary-general, a certain Donnabel Tenorio, submitted a “new” list of its five nominees, with Rowena Guanzon as its first nominee. The Comelec gave its nod to the “new” list.
Guanzon was a commissioner of the Comelec from 2015 to 2022. An appointee of President Noynoy Aquino, Guanzon’s term in the Comelec ended in February 2022.
Last January, Guanzon was criticized by the media for what was described as her scandalous behavior in denouncing the Comelec’s alleged delay in ruling on the disqualification petitions lodged with the poll body against the presidential run of now President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. (BBM).
Guanzon also revealed to the media that she had already voted against BBM in the said disqualification cases, although the Comelec has not yet released its official decision in those cases.
One newspaper even described Guanzon as a palengkera, or one whose conduct is unbecoming of a public official and a lawyer, in reference to the way Guanzon ranted her views in the media.
The Citizen’s Crime Watch group led by lawyer Ferdinand Topacio filed a graft case against Guanzon before the Ombudsman.
Topacio says Guanzon’s premature revelation of her vote in the disqualification cases against President BBM is a violation of Section 3(k) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act for “divulging valuable information of a confidential character to unauthorized persons or releasing such information in advance of its authorized release date.”
Guanzon belittled the case filed by Topacio. She said Topacio has a grudge against her.
Being the first nominee in the “new” list of nominees submitted by P3PWD to the Comelec, Guanzon now insists that she can assume office in the House forthwith.
To Guanzon’s disappointment, however, Cardema’s Duterte Youth filed a petition in the Supreme Court to question the decision of the Comelec in her favor.
Late last month, the Supreme Court issued a temporary restraining order which stops Guanzon from assuming office, pending the final resolution of the case against her.
Human nature dictates that it was absurd for all five original nominees, the first nominee in particular, to resign en masse after P3PWD won a seat. The public suspects an anomaly and these nominees have a lot of explaining to do.
At any rate, the five nominees can be the subject of criminal raps under Article 234 of the Revised Penal Code —
Art. 234. Refusal to discharge elective office. – The penalty of arresto mayor or a fine not exceeding 1,000 pesos, or both, shall be imposed upon any person who, having been elected by popular election to a public office, shall refuse without legal motive to be sworn in or to discharge the duties of said office.
Since Article 234 above falls under the category of crimes committed by public officers, anybody can file the corresponding criminal case against the five.
Cardema and Topacio ought to initiate the criminal cases to show to all and sundry that nobody should be allowed to make a mockery of our election laws and get away with it.