No more appeal, Serge Osmeña says if disqualified by Comelec

Sen. Serge Osmeña III. NOY MORCOSO III/INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO

Senatorial aspirant Sergio “Serge” Osmeña III said Tuesday that he would accept the decision and no longer appeal if the Commission on Elections rules to disqualify him for his alleged failure to declare his campaign expenses.

The Campaign Office of the Comelec has recommended the perpetual disqualification of Osmeña from holding public office after failing to file his statement of contributions and expenditures (SOCE) when he ran as senator in 2010 and 2016.

Asked over ANC’s Hot Copy whether he would take the Comelec decision as it is, Osmeña answered: “Yeah, I will take it as is. No, I will not appeal anymore.”

Osmeña, who is seeking a Senate comeback in 2019, explained that he was confident that the Comelec would not disqualify him.

“I’m saying that I will not appeal because I’m sure the Comelec will vote in my favor. But there’s a 10 percent chance that I will lose but I will take that chance. In other words, hindi naman ako segurista eh. ‘Pag ayaw ng Comelec eh ‘di okay lang,” he said.

Osmeña insisted that he filed his SOCE in 2010, although it was late. He added that since he was allowed to take his oath as senator in 2010, it was proof that he filed his SOCE.

“Whether you want to believe or not, I filed in 2010. But, anyway, I took my oath so that means I filed because otherwise you cannot take your oath unless you file,” Osmeña said.

“To say that I didn’t file is not correct, I did file. They cannot say that I did not file, they can say that I filed late,” he added.

The former senator also explained that he was not able to file his SOCE in 2016 because he was not allowed to file it late. He said that he wrote a letter to the Comelec if he could file late but the Comelec en banc never responded.

“In June 15, I wrote to Andy Bautista, the Comelec chair, for permission to file late, which means 15-20 days late. He responded but he referred it to the Commission en banc, the Commission en banc never responded to me so I didn’t file,” Osmeña explained. /cbb