Comelec dismisses petition vs Legarda’s Antique congressional bid

MANILA, Philippines – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) Second Division has rejected the petitions filed against the congressional bid of Senator Loren Legarda in the province of Antique.

In a resolution, the Comelec Second Division dismissed the petitions which requested the poll body to cancel Legarda’s certificate of candidacy (COC), citing issues in her residency.

READ: Legarda to run for House seat in 2019 polls

The disqualification cases were filed by Robin Rubinos and former Antique Governor Exequiel Javier.

The Comelec Second Division said that “no proof was introduced to effectively refute those offered by Legarda to establish her eligibility for the office to which she seeks to be elected.”

“The Commission (Second Division) finds that Legarda did not misrepresent in her [COC], her period of residence in Antique. Evidence shows that she has been able to change her domicile of choice from Potrero, Malabon to Pandan, Antique more than one year prior to the day of the election,” the resolution read.

Comelec Spokesperson James Jimenez, however, said that the decision of only one division of the poll body is not yet final.

“That’s only the second division, which means that there might be an appeal later on…What’s important that at this point, it is still a division, just the division. Hindi pa siya final,” he told reporters after he attended a  joint committee hearing on the automated election system at the Senate on Thursday. / gsg