SC reverses Comelec ruling to disqualify Abra mayor

MANILA, Philippines — The Supreme Court has overruled a decision of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to disqualify the mayor of Lagangilang, Abra, for being a former American citizen. By an 11-2 vote, the Supreme Court on Oct. 5 said Mayor Rovelyn Villamor should not have been disqualified as a candidate for “false material representation” because she did not hide the fact from voters that she had been a naturalized US citizen. The High Court also upheld the mayor’s contention that she had legally reacquired her Filipino citizenship and had complied with the one-year residency requirement for a mayoralty candidate. The Comelec declared Villamor ineligible to run in the May 2019 elections for failing to meet the residency requirement, based on the election protest filed by her rival Antonio Viernes. But the poll body did not suspend Villamor’s proclamation as mayoral winner. The High Court said a candidate could be disqualified for “false representation” if there was a “deliberate attempt to mislead, misinform, or hide a fact, which would otherwise render a candidate ineligible.”

—Dona Z. Pazzibugan