Saturday, July 26, 2008 SC upholds disqualification of barangay leader
THE Supreme Court (SC) on Friday unanimously affirmed a ruling of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) disqualifying a Filipino-American citizen from filling up an elective post in the 2007 synchronized Barangay and Sanggunihang Kabataan elections.
In a decision penned by Associate Justice Ruben Reyes, the SC en banc dismissed the petition filed by Eusebio Eugenio Lopez seeking to enjoin the Comelec from stopping him from assuming his post as chairman of Barangay Bagacay in San Dionisio, Iloilo City after winning in the October 29, 2007 elections.
The high court ruled that elective public positions are reserved only for Filipino citizens, or to those who have renounced their foreign citizenship and have sworn allegiance to the Philippine flag at the time of filing the certificate of candidacy.
“Garnering the most number of votes does not validate the election of a disqualified candidate because the application of the constitutional and statutory provisions on disqualification is not a matter or popularity,” the court ruled.
The SC said the Comelec is correct in disqualifying Lopez as he failed to meet the requirements under Republic Act (RA) 9225, also known as the Citizenship Retention and Re-Acquisition Act of 2003, before he could run for public office.
Under this law, even as one may re-acquire Filipino citizenship, he or she should first “make a personal and sworn renunciation of any and all foreign citizenship before any public officer.”
The SC also ruled that while Lopez won the elections, took his oath and began to discharge the functions of barangay chairman, “his victory can not cure the defect of his candidacy”.
Court records showed that Lopez run and won in the elections last October 29 for the position of barangay chairman but his qualification was however contested by certain Tessie Villanueva who filed a petition before the Provincial Election Office in Iloilo on the ground that Lopez is an American.
Lopez argued that he used to hold dual citizenship as a Filipino and at the same time an American, which he said is defined and allowed by RA 9225.
He further claimed that he had resided in the barangay and met all the qualifications that won him the barangay post.
On February 6, 2008, the Comelec issued a resolution granting Villanueva’s petition for his disqualification on the ground that he failed to renounce his American citizenship. (ECV/Sunnex)
