Mt Prov groups oppose Mayaen as governor
>> Tuesday, May 31, 2016
Proclamation of
‘non-candidate’ hit
By Gina Dizon and Monico Changlasen
BONTOC, Mountain Province – This province’s
politics continues to heat up as more groups joined the fray assailing and
opposing the proclamation of Kathy Jyll Mayaen-Luis as provincial governor.
Groups filed a case
with the Ombudsman’s Office against the provincial board of canvassers and
called for transfer of provincial Election supervisor and PBC chairman
ElenitaTabangin-Capuyan for proclaiming Mayaen-Luis as provincial
governor.
Lawyer Mayaen-Luis,
daughter of former Gov. Leonard Mayaen filed as substitute candidate for her
father when the latter died two months ago.
The Commission on
Elections en banc disapproved her application but the provincial board of
canvassers declared her as governor.
Incumbent Vice Gov.
Bonifacio Lacwasan, who now sits as provincial governor earlier filed a petition
questioning the act of the PBC in proclaiming Mayaen-Luis.
The Comelec has yet to
issue an official statement on the proclamation of Mayaen-Luis as provincial
governor even as legal quarters said the electoral body could rule on the
matter being a constitutional body.
Tabangin-Capuyan, who
is Comelec provincial chief said the issue could reach the Supreme Court.
This time, a group of
college students assailed the PBC for proclaiming Mayaen-Luis saying she was a
“non-candidate.”
In a press statement,
leaders of the Montanosa Youth Forum for Credible Elections said the BOC
members erred in proclaiming Mayaen-Luis as winner in the gubernatorial contest
in the province.
Another urgent
petition asked Comelec chief commissioner Andres Bautista to replace Tabangin-Capuyan
due her “attitude that emanates incompetence in public service.”
The petition signed by
nearly 100 individuals said that Tabangin-Capuyan issued a
statement to the media stating that a deceased independent candidate can be
substituted by a family member provided that
the family member should have
similar surname.
Tabangin-Capuyan
accepted the candidacy of Mayaen-Luis. The Comelec however issued
a resolution saying that a candidate not belonging to political party cannot be
substituted citing Section 77 of the Omnibus Election Code and Comelec
resolution 9984 as amended by resolution 9989 which provides that substitution
is not allowed for an independent candidate.
And despite Comelec
ruling which reached the PBC, Tabangin-Capuyan who headed the PBC proclaimed
Mayaen-Luis as winning substitute-candidatefor governor May 10.
In a quo warranto case
which reached Comelec, petitioner Bauko resident Thom Tawagen called on Comelec
to cite Capuyan for direct contempt for defying rulings relative to the above.
Tawagen also said Mayaen-Luis
lacks residency in the province to qualify her candidacy. She was born and
raised in Baguio and established her law office in the city. Why the PBC still
accepted the candidacy of Mayaen-Luiswas questioned.
The filing of said quo
warranto with writ for preliminary injunction prevents Mayaen-Luis from
assuming office after June 30, 2016 when the term of deceased for Gov. Mayaen
ends.
This, as an administrative
and graft complaint against the PBC were filed at the Ombudsman’s Office
against PBC members for alleged violations of the law on norms of conduct of public officials and employees and the
anti-graft and corrupt practices Act.
In a 5-page complaint,
Salvador Liked stated Tabangin-Capuyan accepted the certificate of candidacy
of Mayaen-Luis for her deceased
father despite Section 77 of the
Omnibus Election Code and Comelec Resolution
9984 as amended by Resolution
9989 which provides that substitution is
not allowed for an independent candidate.
And despite Comelec
ruling denying the candidacy of Mayaen-Luis as substitute of her deceased father, the PBC proceeded to
proclaim her a winning candidate for
governor of Mountain Province night of May 10
Liked, a resident of
Bauko, Mountain Province also said Tabangin-Capuyan abstained in the voting of
whether or not to proceed with the proclamation of Mayaen-Luis but signed the
certificate of canvass and proclamation.
And by doing so Liked
stated that the PBOC knowingly granted benefit and favor of a person neither
qualified nor legally entitled to the privilege.
Complainant averred
that “due to the resistant and illegal acts of the PBOC who are all highly
learned constitute a gross disregard of the highest order or morality in the
civil service” punishable under RA 6713.
Liked added “concerted
acts of the PBC must not be tolerated in trying to position into the government
a disqualified candidate resulted in chaos and the division of the people of
Mountain Province.”
Organized positions
against the acceptance of Tabangin-Capuyan on the candidacy of Mayaen-Luis and
her proclamation as governor drew including Makabayan-Mountain Province.
Other individuals
raised their protest against the PBOC though legal actions that reached Comelec
aside from the Office of the Ombudsman.
Also, a petition
signed by nearly 100 signatorees called for the transfer of Tabangin-Capuyan.
Although
Tabangin-Capuyan said she was outvoted by other two members into making the
proclamation, she affixed her signature to the documented answer and made no
dissenting opinion.
In their answer, the PBC
members cited the Diasen case which was resolved by the Supreme Court in her
favor because of the more than 30,000 number of votes against her closest
rival.
Along this line, the PBC
argued that the more than 60 thousand votes obtained by Mayaen signified their
approval of the substitution.
Leaders of the youth
group MYFCE did not agree.
“The certificate of
candidacy of Diasen as substitute for her late husband who died during the campaign period was accepted by the
Comelec en banc while that of Kathy Jyll was denied.
“In other words,
Diasen was a candidate while the young Mayaen had never been a candidate, they
said, adding votes belonged solely to the late governor which could not be
credited to anyone else,” they said in the statement.
The youth group also
blasted the PBC for being selective in quoting parts of an existing Comelec
resolution to justify their preconception. “They keep on quoting a part of
Section 19 of Comelec Resolution 9984 stating that the substitute and the
substituted should have the same surname but they never mentioned that same
section of the resolution explicitly provides that only a candidate of a
registered political party could be substituted and that no substitute shall be
allowed for any independent candidate,” they said.
“Whether or not the
minute resolution came late is immaterial. What is important is a copy of the
document was received by the PBC on May 10 and that it is not the function of
the PBC to inform or advice the people of the merits of the resolution. If
Comelec acted late, it was because the COC was filed late – a calculated move
to skirt possible action, legal or otherwise, from offices and parties
concerned,” the group said in answer to the BOC’s claim that the minute
resolution denying the candidacy of the young Mayaen came late giving no time
for the electorates to be informed of it.
The press statement
also scored the PBC for saying that the outright denial of the Comelec on the
young Mayaen’s candidacy as unfair. “Their comment relative to the denial of
Mayaen’s substitution underscores their bias. Only an interested party could
come out with such observation. Are they lawyering for Mayaen?,” the statement
asked.
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