Comelec unseats Tuguegarao mayor
BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya—In what could be an example of how cases move so slowly in the Commission on Elections (Comelec), the election body nullified the proclamation of former police officer Jefferson Soriano as mayor of Tuguegarao City in a decision that was made public a little more than 100 days before the next elections are held.
The decision, however, said it is unable to determine the real winner of the race for Tuguegarao mayor, no thanks to an unsolved burglary case.
Key election documents were lost after a break-in in 2015 at a Comelec office that prevented the poll body from determining the winner in the city’s mayoral contest, the Comelec’s First Division said in a Jan. 26 resolution.
“This supervening event has obviously placed the commission in a position where it cannot put an end to this controversy,” said the Comelec in a 19-page resolution.
“To rule on either side at this point would prove futile in determining the true will of the electorate,” it added.
Instead, it ruled that the incumbent vice mayor, Engelbert Caronan, should assume Soriano’s post.
Comelec annulled the proclamation of Soriano, citing “massive irregularities” in results of the May 2013 automated elections.
The city board of canvassers proclaimed Soriano as Tuguegarao mayor after canvass results showed him beating former Mayor Delfin Ting Sr. by 1,205 votes.
Ting, however, filed an election protest contesting results in all of the city’s 102 precincts. He accused Soriano and his supporters of “fraud, irregularities and terrorism.”
Sought for comment last week, Soriano said his lawyers would ask the Comelec to reconsider its ruling.
“The [Comelec] resolution is part of our democratic processes which we totally respect. But we are also given ample time to seek legal remedy, of which we are availing,” he told the Inquirer by telephone from Tuguegarao.
In its initial examination of poll documents, the Comelec said it discovered cases where the signatures of 1,662 voters on voter registration records did not match those election day computerized voters list (EDCVL).
The number of mismatched signatures and thumbmarks superseded Soriano’s winning margin, the Comelec noted.
“This unusual circumstance is not merely persuasive but of compelling character,” said the resolution.
But before it could start the revision of ballots, the first division said the Comelec office in Tuguegarao City was ransacked and documents, which included EDCVL folders for 14 barangays, were missing.
The poll body also directed its law department to investigate the alleged “massive substitute voting” committed in Tuguegarao.
The Comelec ruling was another setback for Soriano, who has faced dismissal and suspension orders during his 24-month stint as mayor.
In January 2014, Soriano was suspended for 90 days for his alleged involvement in the P34-million helicopter scam during his stint as a senior officer of the Philippine National Police.
Five months after he returned to his post in September, the Office of the Ombudsman ordered his removal from office for abuse of authority. He reported back to work in April 2015 after the Court of Appeals overturned the order for his dismissal.
In November, however, Soriano was meted another 90-day suspension, this time by the Sandiganbayan, for his role in the alleged anomalous purchase of rubber boats worth P131.6 million, also during his time as chair of the PNP bids and awards committee.
The suspension has yet to be enforced. Soriano said he has filed a motion for reconsideration, which stayed the implementation of the suspension order.
