Davide urged to ‘discipline' Pe

Pesquera wants Liberal Party to rein in city councilor as he pushes through with campaign

DESPITE facing a disqualification case, Councilor Augustus Pe Jr. will continue campaigning for his candidacy in the south district.

But Team Rama lawyer Jocelyn Pesquera wants Liberal Party provincial chairman Hilario Davide III to discipline his men.

“I am challenging Junjun Davide to impose party discipline on Yayoy (Councilor Raul Alcoseba) and Jun Pe and have them resign from their positions out of delicadeza,” Pesquera said in a text message.

She also said Alcoseba and Pe should imbibe President Benigno Aquino III's slogan of “daang matuwid.”

Team Rama candidates for councilor Tisha Aisha Gonzalez and Ronald Diola filed the petition for disqualification and to cancel certificate of candidacy against Pe.

Candidate Hans Abella also filed a petition to declare as nuisance candidate Bert Abella.

Lawyers for Team Rama are also preparing documentary evidence to support their opinion that Pe and Alcoseba should resign as city councilors because Pe is no longer a resident of the north district, where he is a district councillor, while Alcoseba has transferred his registration to Carcar City with the intention to run as first district provincial board member.

Davide said he will leave it up to Rep. Tomas Osmeña, the Liberal Party Cebu City chairperson, to answer the issue on Pe.

As for Alcoseba, who is under his jurisdiction, Davide said, “If the law says he should resign then he should resign. But if the law says he need not resign then he should not resign.”

The bases for the petition that Gonzalez and Diola filed are the three-term limit rule and that Pe lacked the residency requirement.

According to the Local Government Code, a candidate should have at least one-year residency immediately preceding the election.

“The qualifications for public office are continuing requirements that must be possessed not only at the time of election or assumption of office but also during the entire tenure. Once any of the required qualification is lost, his title may be seasonably challenged,” the petition read.

Lawyer Delon Urot noted that Pe is still representing the north district of Cebu City by refusing to relinquish his post.

Urot said Gonzalez and Diola volunteered to act as petitioners in the case against Pe. All three are candidates for councilor in the south district.

Urot said that since the petition has been filed, it will be raffled off to a division.

Once the division hands in a decision, Pe can still appeal before the Commission en banc. But since the last day of substitution is on Dec. 21, Comelec will try to resolve all cases before that.

If disqualified and Pe makes an appeal, the Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan may lose its chance to substitute him after Dec. 21.

“That's a risk for the respondent, we don't have to worry about that,” said Urot.