Legazpi City mayor readies appeal in DQ case

Mayor Geraldine Rosal —FACEBOOK PHOTO

LEGAZPI CITY, Albay, Philippines — Mayor Geraldine Rosal on Wednesday said she would file a motion for reconsideration within five days to contest the disqualification ruling issued against her by the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

The Comelec First Division on Tuesday granted the petition of defeated Legazpi City Council candidate Joseph Armogila to disqualify Rosal for joining her husband, Albay Gov. Noel Rosal, in the distribution of cash aid for tricycle drivers and seniors during the campaign period.

Governor Rosal, on Sept. 19, was also disqualified by the Comelec First Division over a separate complaint filed by Armogila alleging violation of the election spending ban during the official campaign period. The governor, on Sept. 23, filed a separate motion for reconsideration in the Comelec en banc.

Mayor Rosal said the decision was a surprise, particularly the part that said she was found guilty of “indispensable cooperation” in the distribution of the cash assistance.

“With all due respect to the Second Division of the Comelec, it is settled in law that a person becomes a principal by indispensable cooperation when he performs an act, without which the offense would not have been accomplished,” she said.

“In my case, I cannot fathom how my alleged appearance during the questioned event was ‘indispensable,’ considering that it would have pushed through just the same—with or without my appearance,” the mayor said.

—REPORTS FROM MA. APRIL MIER-MANJARES AND MICHAEL B. JAUCIAN

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