Comelec allows trader to run in Tuburan

THE 2nd Division of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) has given businesswoman Daphne Lagon the green light to run for vice mayor in Tuburan town in midwest Cebu.

The poll body junked the petition filed by Antonio Primacion and Lourdes Esmero to disqualify Lagon for “lack of merit”.

Commissioners Lucenito Tagle, Elias Yusoph and Maria Gracia Cielo Padaca also set aside accusations of “misrepresentation” against Lagon who will be the runningmate of former Tuburan mayor Rose Suezo.

Both will be seeking election under the One Cebu Party of suspended governor Gwen Garcia and the United Nationalist Alliance of Vice President Jejomar Binay.

“Prior to the deactivation of respondent’s voter’s registration, she was a duly registered voter of the municipality. After she filed her COC, respondent promptly applied for reactivation on October 10, 2012 which is within the period allowed by law to do so. Be that as it may, respondent had the honest intention to remain a registered voter of the municipality,” the resolution dated Jan. 28 said.

CDN was furnished a copy of the resolution yesterday.

The Comelec said “there is no evidence that she (Lagon) registered as a voter in any other place.”

“Neither is there any showing that her residence is located somewhere else. What is clear is that respondent has always been a resident and voter of the municipality, without any deliberate intention to deceive the public as to her qualification, other than the entry in the COC itself.”

A copy of the Comelec resolution was furnished on February 8, to Lagon through her counsel, Delon Rachel Ramon Urot.

Primacion and Esmero have alleged in their complaint that Lagon, who is engaged in the construction business, has not voted in Tuburan town during the last two elections, the reason why Comelec has deactivated her voter’s registration.

It was only on October 10, 2012 or after she filed her COC that she applied for the reactivation of her registration.

But Lagon in her reply said she has been a registered voter of Tuburan town since December 7, 2003 and is assigned to a precinct in barangay Poblacion 5.

Lagon had told Comelec that while it is true that she missed two elections which resulted to the deactivation of her voter registration, she again applied for registration on October 10, 2012.

Commissioners quoted in their resolution Section 39 of the Local Government Code which mentions that a candidate for a local elective position has to be a registered voter of the locality where she is seeking election and a resident of the area for at least one year.

Mitra case

Quoting the Mitra vs. Comelec case, second division Commissioners said that accusations of “misrepresentation” would only stand if there is a “deliberate attempt to mislead, misinform, or hide a fact that would otherwise render a candidate ineligible.”

“Given the purpose of the requirement, it must be made with the intention to deceive the electorate as to the would-be candidate’s qualifications for public office,” the second division resolution said.

However, the decision said, misrepresentation would not apply to a “mere innocuous mistake and cannot exist in a situation where the intent to deceive is patently absent, or where no deception on the electorate results.”