Comelec to proclaim new Pangasinan town mayor

Incumbent loses post due to US citizenship 

By Eva Visperas

BASISTA, Pangasinan– With only a month before the start of the campaign period for local candidates, the Commission on Elections is set to proclaim the new mayor of this town.

Comelec Chairman Andres Bautista signed a writ of execution on Jan. 27 declaring Jocelyn Perez as the mayor and directing Manolito de Leon to relinquish his post.

Perez will take her oath at the Comelec office in Intramuros on Feb. 12.

On Nov. 10, the Supreme Court affirmed a full Comelec resolution issued on Oct. 9, which annulled the proclamation of De Leon over his citizenship.

The Comelec resolution said De Leon lost his citizenship when he was naturalized as an American citizen.

De Leon defeated Perez in the 2013 elections by only 67 votes.

“At this time, he is qualified to run and seek a local elective position. However, his acts of using his American passport on Sept. 10, 2010 and June 26, 2011, or before the 2013 elections effectively barred him from running and holding public office. He reverted to his earlier status of being a dual citizen,” the Comelec resolution stated.

De Leon, a member of the Liberal Party, and Perez of the Nationalist People’s Coalition-Biskeg na Pangasinan party, will be running for mayor here again in the May elections.