WITHIN just 24 hours after a petition was filed, the Supreme Court (SC) affirmed councilor Edgar Avila’s bid for Baguio City mayor.
The SC on April 11 upheld the validity of Avila’s Certificate of Candidacy, clearing doubts cast by a Comelec decision which disregarded Avila’s candidacy and those of 25 other candidates nationwide.
“I thank the SC for the decision. My faith in our justice system has been restored,” Avila said.
He is the official candidate for the mayoralty position of the Hukbong Ng Pagbabago (HNP) and the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) and the Timpuyog ti Baguio, a local coalition.
The SC decision assures that all votes cast in his favor will be counted and not considered stray, he added.
Comelec Resolution No. 19-0286, issued on March 6, 2019, disregarded the Certificates of Candidacy of Avila and 25 candidates nationwide.
“This has hurt us [the campaign] our followers have waned and opponents are saying I have been disqualified, but we will rise and continue the fight,” Avila said.
Avila filed a petition before the SC on April 10, seeking nullification of the Comelec resolution for lack of due process, citing complete compliance of his CoC and that an error in form is not a ground for disqualification among others.
The SC stopped the enforcement of the Comelec resolution on April 11 and gave a status quo ante order effective immediately.
Avila said he does not discount the possibility of politics playing a role in the turn of events.
He said around 25,000 pieces of his campaign posters and tarpaulins posted in the city have been taken down since the Comelec decision became public last week.
“Somebody is insecure and afraid of the truth that he will lose miserably,” added Avila.
In his SC petition, Avila said he and his teammates submitted their respective COCs on October 17, 2018 to the Comelec Field Office in Baguio City.
Election officer John Martin verified, received and processed their CoCs, he added.
Avila’s name was on the official list of candidates for mayor of Baguio City and he was designated the number “2” in the official ballot.
On April 4, Avila received his copy of the Comelec Minute Resolution deeming his COC as “not filed”. (Maria Elena Catajan)