House can’t oust Marinduque Rep. Reyes yet, lawyer says

THE lawyer for Regina Ongsiako Reyes said the House of Representatives cannot oust her as Marinduque representative just yet.

This is because Reyes can still file a motion for reconsideration on the Supreme Court’s grant of writ of mandamus to Reyes’ rival Lord Allan Ray Velasco, who is also the son of Supreme Court justice Presbitero Velasco Jr.

“Nananatili pong kongresista ng lone district ng Marinduque si Cong. Reyes. May pagkakataon po ang partido na magsumite ng motion for reconsideration sa loob ng 15 araw,” lawyer Harry Roque said in a press conference on Wednesday.

Roque said the rules of the Supreme Court should not be bent just because the benefactor is the son of an Associate Justice.

“Naniniwala kami na itong patakaran ng SC ay dapat hindi mabago maski na ang partido sa kaso ay anak po ni Justice Velasco,” Roque said.

He added that the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET) should set aside its December 2015 resolution dismissing the quo warranto petitions pending before the HRET.

But he pointed out that one of the representatives who voted to dismiss the petition, Gabriela Rep. Luz Ilagan, has waived her vote in the HRET because she may no longer be deemed a representative.

This is because Ilagan filed her certificate of candidacy as councilor in Davao city under the party of Rodrigo Duterte.

Under Republic Act 7941 or the party-list law, an elected party-list representative who changes political party shall have forfeited his or her seat.

This means the HRET vote should have been changed to a tie, or 3-3, Roque said.

For her part, Ilagan denied that she has forfeited her seat as Gabriela representative.

“I’m not running for a party-list representative, I’m running for a councilor. So it doesn’t apply to me because I’m not changing my party-list nor I am transferring to another sector. I’m just going to run for a different position,” Ilagan said.

During the plenary session, minority leader Ronaldo Zamora said Gabriela Rep. Emmi De Jesus is replacing Ilagan in the HRET.

Once the Supreme Court order is implemented, Velasco will be joining his mother, Ang Mata’s Aalagaan party-list Rep. Lorna Velasco.

Before she was ousted, Reyes had been recognized as the legitimate Marinduque solon even as the Supreme Court ruled against her in June 2013 and upheld the Comelec decisions canceling her certificate of candidacy for failing to validly reacquire her status as a natural-born Filipino citizen and for failing to comply with the one-year residency requirement for congressional candidates.