Ejercito asks SC to stop disqualification
Laguna Gov. Emilio Ramon “ER” Ejercito yesterday ran to the Supreme Court in a bid to stop a Commission on Elections (Comelec) order removing him from his post due to campaign overspending in last year’s election.
In a 22-page petition for certiorari, he asked the high court to immediately issue a status quo ante order or temporary restraining order (TRO) halting the implementation of the Comelec resolution that he said was haphazardly issued.
Petitioner cited the urgency for action of the SC on his petition, saying he was only given five days or until Monday to secure a halt order before the poll body enforces its ruling.
“Unless this Honorable Court issues immediately upon the filing of this petition, there is a strong probability that the issues before this Honorable Court would be rendered moot and moribund as a result of the immediate implementation of the assailed resolution,” argued his lawyer Enrique dela Cruz Jr.
The petition, however, was filed while the high tribunal is on decision-writing recess.
But under the rules, the chief justice may act on urgent pleadings upon recommendation of the member-in-charge and subject to the confirmation or approval of the justices when they resume full-court session next month.
As of press time, the SC has not acted on the petition.
Apart from a halt order, Ejercito also sought the nullification of the Comelec order for alleged violation of his constitutional right to due process.
“It violated the right of petitioner to due process when it ruled for the disqualification of petitioner even if it was never prayed for in the petition (for disqualification). Worse, there is yet no finding of guilt by a competent court of finding of fact stating that petitioner actually committed the alleged election offense of overspending,” read the petition.
Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. said they could wait until Tuesday for Ejercito to secure a TRO that would stop the implementation of his disqualification.
“SC will meet next Tuesday and we can wait for it. If they are able to secure a TRO by then, he won’t be remove from office,” he added.
Brillantes, however, noted that if Ejercito would not be able to get a TRO by then, the Comelec will have to send a copy of its resolution to the Department of the Interior and Local Government by Wednesday or Thursday for implementation.
Last Wednesday, the Comelec had resolved to affirm a resolution of the First Division disqualifying Ejercito for campaign overspending.
Records showed that while the candidate was allowed to spend only P4.5 million – or P3 for each of the 1,525,522 registered voters in Laguna – Ejercito actually spent P23.5 million.
More than P6 million of this went to one advertising contract with a television network.
Brillantes said that their decision was not politically motivated but based only on welldocumented evidence against Ejercito.
Ejercito lamented that the Comelec, in voting 7-0, based its decision on an advertising contract that was not even formally submitted as evidence during the proceedings.
He denied the finding of the poll body that he paid P6.4 million for television advertisements, which he claimed his supporters paid for.
Ejercito claimed it was “an act done by a third party who simply exercised its right to free expression without the knowledge and consent of petitioner.”
Petitioner further alleged that the Comelec committed grave abuse of discretion in disqualifying him when the petition filed against him was only for a request to initiate a criminal proceeding for violation of election laws.
He argued that the poll body wrongly assumed that the case was for his disqualification, contrary to the rule under Section 68 of the Omnibus Election Code.
Section 68 of the Omnibus Election Code requires that “a party is declared by final decision of a competent court guilty of or found by the Commission of …spent in his election campaign an amount in excess of that allowed by this Code…shall be disqualified from continuing as a candidate or if he has been elected, from holding the office.”
He stressed that instead of disqualifying him from office, the Comelec should have instead filed a criminal complaint against him or first ordered a conduct of an inquiry on allegations of overspending.
He noted that what was filed by his rival in the election, Edgar San Luis of the ruling Liberal Party, before the poll body was only for a request to initiate a criminal proceeding for violation of election laws.
Thus, Ejercito said Comelec’s resolution has no legal basis.
“Indeed, a judgment meting out the penalty of disqualification before the conduct of a preliminary investigation into the factual allegations thereof is premature and constitutes a clear violation of petitioner’s right to due process,” added the petition.
Ejercito, a nephew of former President and now Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada who obtained a total of 549,310 votes in the gubernatorial poll, was disqualified for spending up to P23,563,365.28 for his campaign when he is only authorized to spend only P4,576,566.00.