Senatorial bet Belgica not disqualified from public office – lawyer
Senatorial bet Greco Belgica (Photo from his office)
MANILA, Philippines — Senatorial candidate Greco Belgica is not “perpetually disqualified” from holding public office and the Commission on Elections (Comelec) has not issued any resolution declaring him disqualified.
Belgica’s legal counsel, Melchor Jaemond Aranas, issued the statement on Sunday in reaction to what he called “erroneous and misleading media reports” about the status of the candidacy of the former chairman of the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC).
The case filed against Belgica was still pending in the Comelec, he pointed out.
According to Aranas, Belgica was able to accomplish and sign his Statement of Contributions and Expenditures (SOCE) when he ran for a senatorial post in 2013.
He said Belgica “personally signed his SOCE on time.”
“Meanwhile, two out of several annexes of the SOCE were signed by Belgica’s campaign treasurer, the amounts indicated matched the declared total expenses that the senatorial candidate incurred in his campaign,” Aranas said.
Aranas clarified that a provision requiring a candidate to personally sign all the annexes of his or her SOCE was only promulgated on Feb. 13, 2014.
“Belgica is of high moral value and integrity. These are among some of the reasons why President Rodrigo Duterte entrusted him with the responsibility to lead the PACC,” Aranas said.
He also said that there was substantial compliance with the law considering that the mandate was to give a full, true, and itemized statement of expenditures in connection with the election.
“We submitted in our comment that we believe that the Comelec resolution could be in the nature of an ex post facto law and in violation of the Constitution,” Aranas said.
He also pointed out that no petition for perpetual disqualification was filed against Belgica when he ran for a senatorial position in 2016. He was also allowed to run and be voted for during the 2016 national and local elections.
Aranas said the motive for the release of the report is questionable, considering that it was on May 8, the eve of the 2022 polls.
He said this could be the work of drug lords, communists, corrupt government workers, and pork barrel legislators conniving against Belgica.
This, especially as Belgica has been experiencing a surge in public awareness and acceptability in the last stretch of the elections.
Aranas encouraged the voters to exercise their right to suffrage and choose candidates with solid track records and unquestionable integrity.
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