The Supreme Court has ordered the removal of erstwhile Marinduque representative Regina Ongsiako-Reyes to be replaced by poll runner up Lord Allan Jay Velasco, son of SC Associate Justice Presbitero Velasco Jr. CONGRESS WEBSITE PHOTO
THE SUPREME Court on Tuesday ordered the House of Representatives to oust sitting Marinduque Rep. Regina Ongsiako-Reyes and replace her with the runnerup in the 2013 congressional race.
In a press conference, Supreme Court spokesperson Theodore Te said that the tribunal, voting 8-1, with six abstentions, ordered the House to administer the oath of office to Lord Allan Jay Velasco, the runnerup in the 2013 congressional race, and to register his name in the roll of members of the Lower Chamber.
“[T]he court found that petitioner Velasco was entitled to the writ of mandamus because the finality of the court’s ruling and the Commission on Elections’ resolutions left no issue as to who the rightful representatives of the lone district of the province. For this reason, the administration of the oath to Velasco by the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the registration of his name in the rolls of the House by the secretary general were ministerial duties compellable by mandamus,” Te said.
Velasco, the son of Justice Presbitero Velasco Jr., will have a little over five months to serve as lawmaker. He will be joining his mother, Ang Mata’s Aalagaan party-list Rep. Lorna Velasco, in the House.
Those who voted in favor of Velasco’s petition were Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno and Justices Antonio Carpio, Teresita Leonardo-De Castro, Lucas Bersamin, Martin Villarama Jr., Jose Perez, Bienvenido Reyes and Marvic Leonen. Justice Arturo Brion was the lone dissenter.
Justices Velasco, Diosdado Peralta, Mariano del Castillo, Jose Mendoza, Estela Perlas-Bernabe and Francis Jardeleza did not take part in the voting.
The main decision in the case, written by De Castro, and Brion’s dissent have yet to be released. Te said Leonen will issue a separate concurring opinion.
The House has recognized Reyes as the legitimate Marinduque congressman even after the Supreme Court ruled against her in June 2013 and upheld the Comelec decisions canceling her certificate of candidacy for failing to validly reacquire her status as a natural-born Filipino citizen and for failing to comply with the one-year residency requirement for congressional candidates.
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