Ex-PCGG Chairman Camilo Sabio. INQUIRER file photo
A former Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) chair and presidential aspirant is asking the Supreme Court to declare unconstitutional the move of the Commission on Elections to name him a nuisance candidate on the basis of lack of funds and absence of a political party.
Camilo Sabio, who was a two-year president of the Philippine Constitution Association, said the Comelec violated provisions of the Constitution guaranteeing equal access to opportunities for public service.
“By requiring a presidential candidate to have the support of a political party and/or his financial capacity to run a nationwide presidential campaign, respondent Comelec has clearly violated Section 2, Article VII (Executive Department), by arbitrarily and unilaterally increasing the qualifications of a candidate for president,” Sabio stated in his motion for reconsideration filed in the Supreme Court on Feb. 8.
He cited Section 2, Article VII, of the Constitution, which provides: “No person may be elected president unless he is a natural-born citizen of the Philippines, a registered voter, able to read and write, at least forty years of age on the day of the election, and a resident of the Philippines for at least 10 years immediately proceeding such election.”
Sabio cited then Associate Justice Isagani Cruz in the 2002 edition of his Philippine Political Law, who said that the qualifications for president enumerated in the Constitution are “exclusive” and may not be reduced nor increased by Congress.
Congress, much less the Comelec, could not increase the qualifications, argued Sabio.
In the same motion, Sabio, who served long years in government under several administrations in the legislative, executive and judicial branches, also outlined his financial capacity to wage a national campaign. A 58-hectare prime property in Las Piñas and Alabang has been awarded with finality by the Supreme Court to Sabio and his spouse Marlene, and is valued at P2 billion.
“This amount is several times the maximum of P540 million that a presidential candidate could legally spend,” Sabio stated.
He said Comelec has no reason to discriminate against him in favor of the other candidates it has allowed.