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Friday, March 28, 2003
Election court disqualifies Jimenez anew
MANILA -- The House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET) ruled in favor of the conduct of new election in the district of extradited Manila Rep. Mark Jimenez, alias Mario B. Crespo, even as it "disqualified" the congressman from his position.
A similar ruling by the HRET last March 6 declared Jimenez ineligible for the position "for lack of residence in the district."
The tribunal also ruled against candidate Pablo Ocampo's election protest, saying that "when a voter chooses his congressional candidate, he chooses only one...there are no runners-up or second placers."
The HRET is composed of three Supreme Court (SC) magistrates, namely, Associate Justices Reynato S. Puno, Vicente V. Mendoza and Leonardo A. Quisumbing.
"Thus, when the person vested with the mandate of the majority is disqualified from holding the post he was elected to, the only recourse to ascertain the new choice of the electorate is to hold another election," the HRET explained.
Ruling on questions of fact, the tribunal "resolved to declare Mario Crespo to have engaged in massive vote-buying and consequently disqualified as representative of the 6th district of Manila."
Citing testimonies from 21 witnesses, the HRET said Jimenez engaged in massive vote-buying in all 139 barangays of the district, personally distributing P500 or P1,000 each to the residents of the district in the course of his house-to-house campaign, and distributed bags of groceries and money to various barangays through barangay chairmen, councilors, tanods and his campaigners known as his "angels".
Jimenez, the tribunal added, also conducted bingo games in various barangays, giving home appliances as prizes including TV sets, refrigerators, stereos, microwave ovens, airpots, rice cookers, electric fans, and rice dispensers.
The HRET, in turning down Ocampo's request to get the seat, said a new election is the best path, citing that "Congressional elections are different from local government elections."
"This does not mean that the sixth legislative district of Manila will be without adequate representation in Congress... the Constitution...(allows) Congress to call a special election to fill up this vacancy. There are at least 13 months until the next congressional elections, which is more than sufficient time within which to hold a special election to enable the electorate... to elect their representative," the tribunal pointed out.
An HRET member, Oscar S. Rodriguez (3rd district, Pampanga) is on official mission while two others, Salacnib F. Baterina (first district, Ilocos Sur) and Magtanggol T. Gunigundo (second district, Valenzuela), filed contrary opinions to the majority ruling. Sunnex Luzon |
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