Comelec asked to declare mayoral bet a nuisance candidate

THE camp of Nationalist People's Coalition-Grupo Progreso mayoralty candidate Vice Mayor Jude Thaddeus Sayson has filed a petition to declare Julius Sayson a nuisance candidate in next year’s elections.

Lawyer Crystal Vega, legal counsel of Vice Mayor Sayson, said the grounds for disqualification are different from that of the petition they filed before the Commission on Elections’ (Comelec) clerk last October 9.

Under the new Comelec Resolution 9123, a nuisance candidate is defined as somebody who filed his or her certificate of candidacy with an intention to cause confusion among the voters by a similarity of surname.

Vice Mayor Sayson’s camp is alleging that Julius has no bona fide intention to run for public office other than to put the election process in mockery and to confuse the voters of Bacolod City by the similarity of surname of that of the respondent vice mayor, “thereby preventing the faithful determination of the true will of the electorate of Bacolod City for the position of mayor.”

Vega said they contend that Julius is a nuisance candidate because he has no financial resources; no political machinery to propel his candidacy; has no political supporters to help in his campaign; no political line-up despite the fact that he is running for a major position; has not filed his certificate of candidacy (COC) for any position in the barangay, local and/or national election in previous elections; has no real property to show financial stability and still lives with his father at Purok 7, Barangay Granada; and has not demonstrated any accomplishment or achievement in his 32 years of existence that could be a gauge for the electorate to consider his candidacy.

Vice Mayor Sayson’s camp also said that Julius filed his COC with an end objective of helping his candidate for Mayor Monico Puentevella and derail the vice mayor’s chances of winning next year’s polls.

The camp also pointed out that Julius's Facebook account would show that he is a loyal supporter of Puentevella.

With the complaint, the Comelec has the power to decide motu propio, which means that the commission, upon receipt of the complaint, can declare the candidate as nuisance once it sees sufficiency in the complaint.

But it is also discretionary on the part of Comelec on how to deal with the complaint, if it wants to summon Julius to appear and be heard by way of a clarificatory hearing.

"We will just await the decision of the Comelec. Time is of the essence. If Comelec will not give our complaint due course until the start of the campaign, that would be unfair also on the part of Julius as he will be spending for the campaign and only to end up declared as a nuisance candidate in the middle of it. But for justice and fairness, we hope that Comelec will act on it speedily," said Vega.

The law on nuisance candidates is an old law. It has not been repealed or amended. The so-called "evil that sought to be avoided" means that the law wants to avoid those people who take advantage of having the same surname and cause confusion to the electorate, Vega said. (CNC)