Guanzon: How did Duterte notarize his COC in 2 cities in same day?

Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

COMMISSION on Elections (Comelec) Commissioner Ma. Rowena Amelia Guanzon on Thursday gave her separate opinion on the ruling of the First Division which dismissed all petitions seeking to disqualify presidential hopeful Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte.

Guanzon, who joined First Division presiding commissioner Christian Robert Lim and Tito Luie Guia in dismissing the four disqualification petitions against Duterte, said that she had four issues that needed to be discussed by the poll body.

In her nine-page opinion, one of the points that she wants to be clarified is how did Duterte able to appear before two notaries public to have his certificate of candidacy (COC) authenticated in two cities—which are thousands of kilometers apart from each other—in just one day.

Guanzon echoed the observation of petitioner John Paulo delas Nieves who said that the act of Duterte—who swore before notaries public in Pasig City and Davao City on November 23, 2015—is “implausible” to someone who has “a reasonable mind.”

“A perusal of the records reveals that such documents do indeed separately bear the notarizations made by notaries public from Davao City and Pasig City. How was it possible that Respondent Duterte appeared, on the same day, before a notary public in Davao then a notary public in Pasig?” Guanzon said.

The commissioner said that Duterte was not able to explain how he appeared in two notaries public in the same day.

“It would have been far simpler if Respondent Duterte narrated the steps he took in having his Statement of Cancellation/ Withdrawal of his COC for Mayor of Davao City notarized in Davao City and then traveling Pasig City for the notarization of his COC for President, or vice versa,” she said.

Meanwhile, Guanzon also slammed former Partido Demokratikong Pilipino-Laban ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) standard bearer Martin Dino for supposedly exploiting the loopholes in Section 77 of the Omnibus Election Code which provides for the substitution of candidates.

She said that Dino was able to avoid scrutiny of being tagged as a nuisance candidate and extend the filing of certificate of candidacy for his substitute.

The Comelec first filed a petition declaring Dino as a nuisance candidate when he decided to withdraw his candidacy and give way to the feisty Davao mayor.

“I am uncomfortable with how Respondent Dino appeared to have exploited a loophole in our rules in order to avoid scrutiny which might have eventually found him a nuisance candidate, and, at the same time, effectively extend the deadline for filing of certificate of candidacy for his substitute,” Guanzon said.

In an interview with reporters, Guanzon expressed hope that Duterte’s case would give way to amendments in the Comelec’s Rules of Procedure to remove the loopholes in Section 77 of the Omnibus Election Code.

“There are many lessons to be learned from this case, as students of the law, I hope that people appreciate not only the legal questions here but the manner the Comelec First Division arrived at our decision.”

“Kailangan nating suriin yung intent kung bakit sila nag-file ng candidacy. Mukha namang hindi sila seryoso na tumakbo talaga bilang presidente. Kung may ganon, ano ba ang provision ng rules kung sila ay papayagan na valid ang kanilang candidacy para ma-substitute sila?” she said.

Guanzon was earlier asked by Duterte to inhibit in all the disqualification cases against him. However, the Comelec junked the petition for her inhibition.