Lawyer says battle for House seat pits House vs high court

The battle for a House seat representing the lone district of Marinduque province is pitting the legislature against the judiciary following reports that the Supreme Court has asked the House of Representatives to swear in a justice’s son as representative to replace a Liberal Party (LP) member now occupying the seat, according to a lawyer of the LP member.

The tug-of-war for the House seat between Regina Ongsiako Reyes and Lord Allan Jay Velasco, according to lawyer Harry Roque, is starting to look like a collision course between the House and Supreme Court.

Velasco is son of Supreme Court Justice Presbitero Velasco while Reyes is the LP candidate for the lone district of Marinduque who has been sworn into office by House leaders.

In a statement, Roque, who is also running for senator under the opposition United Nationalist Alliance (UNA), said the camp of Reyes had not received any high court resolution that ordered the House to swear in Velasco.

“Even if true, Representative Reyes is entitled to file a motion for reconsideration,” Roque said.

“Until the denial of that motion, Representative Reyes continues to be the lawful representative of Marinduque in Congress,” he said.

According to Roque, the entire House of Representatives has to “act as a collegial body if Representative Reyes has to be ousted from the post.”

In a recent phone interview, Velasco said he had hoped that the House would recognize him as Marinduque representative before it resumed session.

But he said he would write to Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. to inform the House leader of the high court ruling ousting Reyes.

According to Velasco, his first act as representative would be to review Reyes’ record and projects.

Roque said he saw a political motivation in the high court ruling in favor of Velasco.

The appropriate body that should rule on electoral protests involving candidates for representative, or claimants to House seats, should be the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET).

But HRET, according to Roque, is chaired by Justice Velasco. With a report from Maricar Cinco, Inquirer Southern Luzon