Former Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano and incumbent Taguig Mayor Lani Cayetano. (File photo from the Philippine Daily Inquirer)
MANILA, Philippines—The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has denied a petition seeking to disqualify former Foreign Affairs chief Alan Peter Cayetano from running as Representative of the 1st District of Taguig-Pateros in the May 13 midterm election.
In a resolution made public Monday, the Comelec 2nd Division ruled that Cayetano “did not commit any false material representation when he declared in his COC that his residence or domicile is still 209 Paso Street, Barangay Bagumbayan, Taguig City, despite the transfer of their family home to 353-A Two Serendra, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig.”
“His domicile remains to be that in Barangay Bagumbayan, which has been his domicile from 1991 up to the present,” the poll body said.
In a petition filed November last year, Leonides Buac questioned the claim of Cayetano that he is a resident of Brgy. Bagumbayan in the city’s First District, while his wife Lani resides in Brgy. Fort Bonifacio in the Second District, saying that it is not in accordance with Article 69 of the Family Code.
Lani, the current Taguig City mayor, is running as Representative of Taguig City’s second district.
The Comelec noted that the former senator “cannot be considered to have lost his domicile at Bagumbayan by the mere assertion that his wife transferred her domicile to Two Serendra.”
“A person may live and maintain residences in different places but it does not result [in] loss of domicile,” the resolution stated, adding that Cayetano and his wife “established their conjugal dwelling or marital domicile in a place other than respondent’s domicile is of no moment and has no effect whatsoever to respondent’s domicile absent any intention to abandon the same.”
“In view of the foregoing, Respondent not having abandoned his domicile in Barangay Bagumbayan, correctly declared that his residence is such address and no material representation that is false can be imputed for such an act nor for his act of declaring himself eligible for the office sought to be elected to as his domicile remains to be Barangay Bagumbayan in the 1st District of Taguig-Pateros,” the Comelec ruled.
READ: Cayetano confident Comelec will junk petition vs him, wife
READ: Husband, wife bid for House seats completely legal