Comelec suspends Erwin Tulfo’s proclamation as ACT-CIS party-list nominee

Erwin Tulfo —PHOTO FROM DSWD FACEBOOK PAGE

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has decided to suspend the proclamation of Erwin Tulfo as a party-list nominee of Anti-Crime and Terrorism Community Involvement and Support Inc. (ACT-CIS) while the former social welfare secretary faces a disqualification case for the congressional seat.

In a March 1 letter addressed to House Secretary General Reginald Velasco, Comelec Chair George Garcia informed the lower chamber that the Comelec would have to postpone the declaration of Tulfo as the “next-in-line nominee” after it received on Tuesday, February 28, a complaint seeking his disqualification.

Garcia cited Rule 5, Sec. 8 of Comelec Resolution No. 9366, a provision on unresolved petitions for disqualification of party-list nominees, which states that “if the evidence is strong, the proclamation of the nominee shall be suspended notwithstanding the fact that his group or organization received the winning number of votes.”

According to the Comelec, the petitioner, lawyer Moises Tolentino Jr., based his complaint on questions over Tulfo’s citizenship and conviction of a “crime involving moral turpitude.”

The disqualification complaint is set to be raffled on March 6 to a division that will hear the case.

Tulfo was named a nominee after Jeffrey Soriano resigned last week as one of the ACT-CIS representatives. If the Comelec division rules in his favor, Tulfo will join his brother’s wife, Jocelyn Tulfo, and Edvic Yap in the party-list.

He earlier failed to secure his seat in the Cabinet after the Commission on Appointments bypassed him twice as social welfare secretary. —KATHLEEN DE VILLA