High Court junks petition to disqualify governor

HE Supreme Court has sustained its earlier decision dumping a petition against Governor Abraham Khalil Mitra of Palawan seeking his disqualification from running in the May 10, 2010 elections for allegedly failing to establish his residency in the province.

In a full court ruling promulgated on January 31, 2012, signed by Clerk of Court Enriqueta Vidal, the High Court dismissed the petition for certiorari filed by petitioner Richard Lopez for non-compliance, particularly for: (a) late filing as the petition was filed on Septembre 26, 2011, the due date being July 30, 2011; (b) failure to accompany the petition with a clearly legible duplicate original or certified true copy of the assailed judgment and order in violation of Section 5, Rule 64; and (c) insufficient or defective affidavit of service, verification and certification of nonforum shopping as the affiants thereof were not personally known to the notary public or identified by the notary public through competent evidence of identity as required by the 2004 Rules on Notarial Practice.

In any event, according to the High Tribunal “the petition would still be dismissed for fail- ure to sufficiently show that any grave of discretion was committed by the Commission on Elections in rendering the challenged order which, on the contrary, appears to be in accord with the facts and applicable law and jurisprudence.earlier, the Comelec had disqualified Mitra from running for governor in the May 10 polls due to his questionable residency.

But Mitra sought redress before the Court which halted his disqualification.