Laguna governor appeals ouster

Laguna Governor Jeorge “ER” Ejercito PHOTO from SCENEMA CONCEPT INTERNATIONAL INC. / CONTRIBUTED IMAGE

MANILA, Philippines—Laguna Gov. Emilio Ramon “ER” Ejercito has asked the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to reverse his ouster for alleged overspending during the campaign period leading up to the May 13 elections.

In a motion for reconsideration that his lawyer George Erwin Garcia filed for him, Ejercito said the Comelec 1st Division had illegally changed the nature of the case from alleged overspending, which is an election offense, to disqualification.

The division also violated his right to due process by not informing him of the change, he said.

The petition to disqualify him should be reversed and immediately dismissed “for utter lack of merit in fact and in law, lack of jurisdiction and for being rendered in violation of due process of law by the First Division,” Ejercito said in his motion dated Sept. 30.

According to the division’s Sept. 26 resolution, Ejercito spent P6 million in television advertisements alone when he was only allowed to spend P4.5 million for the 1,525,522 registered voters in the province. Under the Omnibus Election Code (OEC), local candidates may only spend P3 per voter.

However, the governor pointed out that the petition filed by the complainant Edgar San Luis was not really for disqualification but for the commission of an election offense under the Fair Elections Act of 2001, or Republic Act No. 9006.

“San Luis expressly and categorically prayed for the prosecution of criminal cases against [me] for the alleged commission of election offenses,” Ejercito said.

He argued that even if the title of San Luis’ complaint was a petition to disqualify, the allegations, the grounds relied on and the reliefs sought were “all consistent with a complaint for the commission of an election offense.”

Moreover, the governor added, under the OEC and the rules promulgated by the Comelec to implement RA 9006, an election offense such as overspending should first be investigated by the law department, which, upon finding probable cause, must file and prosecute the case at the regional trial court.