57 MORE KAMAGAYAN VOTERS DELISTED

Cebu City Vice Mayor Edgar Labella plans to file a motion for reconsideration

Another 57 registered voters in Barangay Kamagayan, Cebu City, were excluded from the list of voters in the barangay after the court granted the petition filed by three individuals against them.

With the development, a total of 121 voters from Barangay Kamagayan are no longer allowed to cast their votes in Cebu City this coming May elections.

In his decision, Judge Dakila Dante Barcenas of Branch 2 of the Metropolitan Trial Court in Cities (MTCC) in Cebu City directed the office of the Commission on Elections in the North District to exclude the 57 respondents from the list of voters in Barangay Kamagayan.

Barcenas granted the seven petitions for exclusion that were filed by three residents of Barangay Kamagayan to remove their neighbors from the registered voters list since they are no longer residing there.

Before the decision from Branch 2, Judge Monalila Tecson of Branch 1 of MTCC also granted the exclusion of 64 out of 73 registered voters in Barangay Kamagayan.

Lawyer Florleane Sacares of SALiGAL Law, who served as counsel for the petitioners said the court found out based on the testimonial and documentary evidence presented by petitioners, that the respondents failed to comply with the six-month residency requirement.

“It was sufficiently established that respondents are now residents of Barangay Cubacub, Mandaue City for over 10 years now. Consequently, they can no longer vote in Cebu City. While we agree that the right to vote is a constitutional right, we also need to remind our voters that there are requirements to follow before they can exercise that right. Residency requirement is one of these requirements. That is what is upheld by this court ruling,” Sacares said.

Despite the decision, Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella said he may still file a motion for reconsideration.

Labella earlier said the case was politically motivated considering that all of the disenfranchised voters are supporters of Barangay Kamagayan Captain Raquel Avila, a political ally of Barug PDP-Laban.

Labella, standard bearer of Barug Partido Demokratiko ng Pilipinas-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) in Cebu City, said he would lose votes if the 173 voters would be excluded.

He said it is obvious the three petitioners were ordered by their political opponent, the Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan (BOPK), to slash his potential votes.