Ousted Albay gov asks court for status quo ante order
LEGAZPI CITY, Albay: Two months after Noel Rosal was booted out from his office as Albay governor by the Commission on Elections (Comelec), he again asked the Supreme Court to issue a status quo ante order (SQAO) to allow him to reassume or be reinstated to his post while his petition is still pending before the court.
Rosal’s plea came after the Supreme Court en banc issued a decision in favor of Agoo Mayor Frank Ong Sibuma on Jan. 24, 2023, upholding the election of the former as mayor of Agoo, La Union.
The high court nullified the resolution issued by the Comelec’s Second Division dated May 13, 2022, which canceled, on the ground of false material representation, the certificate of candidacy (CoC) filed by Sibuma, who won as mayor of Agoo in the May 9, 2022 elections; and writ of execution dated June 29, 2022, which annulled Sibuma’s proclamation and ordered the proclamation of Stefanie Ann Eriguel Calongcagon in his stead.
The high court said the Comelec’s Second Division committed grave abuse of discretion when it ordered the cancellation of Sibuma’s CoC without any prior finding that he had committed a “deliberately false and deceptive representation” of his residence qualification.
Manifest will
In a 24-page urgent motion reiterating the issuance of SQAO, Rosal, through his lawyers Romulo Macalintal and Antonio Carlos Bautista, asked the high court to respect the manifest will of the electorate of Albay where he garnered 469,481 votes as against his political opponent former governor Al Francis Bichara with 238,746 votes or a commanding vote-lead of 230,735 votes, despite a pending disqualification during the elections.
Rosal asked the court to “apply the very recent decision of the court in the disqualification case of the mayor of Agoo, La Union where the court resolved all doubts in favor of the manifest will of the people electing the latter as their mayor despite a pending disqualification case.”
“Like the ousted Mayor of Agoo, La Union, who was reinstated by the Supreme Court, I was decisively elected by the people of the province of Albay as their governor despite the pendency of a disqualification against me with a commanding 469,481 total votes. Hence, all doubts should likewise be resolved in favor of the manifest will of the people of Albay who elected me as their governor,” Rosal said.
He further argued that the Comelec failed to issue the appropriate Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRRs) to implement the provision of the Omnibus Election Code (OEC) for which he was disqualified by the Comelec.
“There was no IRR issued by the Comelec which specifically explained the coverage of Section 261(v)(2) of the OEC as required by Section 52 of the OEC. Absent such IRRs, the said provision is unenforceable and cannot be the basis of my disqualification.” Rosal said.
In his motion, he cited the case of People vs Reyes where the Supreme Court held that the provisions of the OEC and related election laws can only be implemented and enforced if the corresponding IRRs have been issued by the Comelec.
No ‘vote-buying’
Rosal also argued that “the Comelec already ruled that I did not commit vote-buying under Section 68(a) of the OEC and the assistance given to tricycle drivers and senior citizens were amounts due them and not for the purpose of influencing or inducing them to vote for me.”
“Hence, it is grave abuse of discretion of the Comelec to still disqualify me despite such ruling of no vote-buying and no evidence that I committed acts to influence or induce the voters to vote for me under a new provision (Section 2t61(v)(2) of the OEC) where one element is that the release of public funds was intended to influence or induce the voters to vote for me,” he said.
“In other words, the Comelec is very inconsistent in its ruling because if I did not commit acts to influence or induce the voters in Section 68(a) of OEC, then the same should be applied to the alleged acts under Section 261(v)(2) of the OEC as both pertain to public funds being used to influence or induce the voters to vote for or against a particular candidate,” Rosal added.
In his plea, Rosal also asked the Supreme Court to issue the SQAO directing the Comelec to maintain the status quo prevailing before the disqualification resolutions were issued by the Comelec; to allow him to reassume the position as Albay governor; and to direct the Department of the Interior and Local Government to immediately reinstate him to the position; and also to direct acting governor Edcel Greco Lagman to peaceably relinquish the position to him, until further orders from the Supreme Court.
Rosal was unseated by the Comelec en banc for violation of the election code after the camp of his political opponent Joseph Armogilla, who ran for city council in the May 9, 2023 polls under former Ako Bicol solon Alfredo “Pido” Garbin filed a complaint against the former for giving financial aid to senior citizens and tricycle drivers as pandemic aid during the campaign period.