Quo warranto petition challenges Mabatid’s victory

A defeated candidate has lodged a petition asking the court to annul the proclamation of Prisca Niña Mabatid as the barangay captain of Barangay Mabolo, Cebu City.

Lawyer Daniel Francis Arguedo filed a quo warranto petition against Mabatid before the Municipal Trial Court in Cities, saying that Mabatid failed to comply with the residency requirement.

Arguedo, 48, who lost to Mabatid by 1,464 votes in the May 14, election, asked Judge Monalila Tecson of the Municipal Trial Court in Cities Branch 1 to annul or suspend her proclamation. Mabatid garnered 6,147 votes.

“Respondent (Mabatid) is not an actual resident of Barangay Mabolo, Cebu City even for at least six months...she is a resident of Sunny Hills Subdivision, Talamban, Cebu City,” read Arguedo’s petition.

Sought for her comment, Mabatid expressed confidence the case will soon be dismissed.

“I have been a voter of Mabolo since the 1990s during the first SK election up to now. My residence certificate is still Mabolo. I have properties outside Mabolo but it does not mean I am not from Mabolo,” said Mabatid in a text message.

In yesterday’s hearing, Arguedo’s lawyer, Amando Virgil Ligutan, presented two witnesses in support of their petition against Mabatid. Arguedo presented several documents showing that Mabatid is a resident of Barangay Talamban.

During the cross-examination, Mabatid’s lawyer, Delon Richel Urot, asked Arguedo if he was aware the respondent is not a resident of Mabolo prior to the filing of her certificate of candidacy last April 18, 2018.

Arguedo pointed out that the law provides that an election protest may be filed after 10 days after the elections. He said that Mabatid registered as a voter of Barangay Mabolo only in 2015.

But Urot insisted that Mabatid is a resident and registered voter of Barangay Mabolo, and that the Mabatid clan has an ancestral house there where her mother, Salud, still resides.

Ligutan also presented the testimony of businessman David delos Santos, a former employee of Mabatid’s, who corroborated Arguedo’s testimony.

Apart from Mabatid, also named respondents were the Commission on Elections and the Department of the Interior and Local Government.

In his petition, Arguedo said that Mabatid resides in Sunflower Drive, Sunny Hills, Talamban, Cebu City, as shown in her pleadings filed in court and other public documents submitted to government agencies. He asked the court to annul Mabatid’s proclamation and declare her ineligible to hold office.