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BACOLOD City – For lack of several requirements, the Supreme Court en banc dismissed the appeal that Monico Puentevella filed on his election protest against Mayor Evelio Leonardia.
Puentevella and Leonardia ran for mayor in the May 9, 2016 national elections. Leonardia was proclaimed the winner with 120,231 votes – 22,238 votes more than Puentevella’s 97,993.
Puentevella filed an electoral protest but the Commission on Elections (Comelec) First Division dismissed it. He filed a motion for reconsideration but the Comelec en banc dismissed it, too.
In a one-page resolution dated Nov. 21 – a copy of which was furnished to the City Mayor’s Office yesterday – the Supreme Court ruled to dismiss Puentevella’s appeal.
“This Court has carefully reviewed the allegations, issues and arguments raised in the instant Petition for Certiorari filed under Rule 64 of the Rules of Court and notes that the same lacks:
“(a) the required docket and other fees in view of the deficiency in the payment thereof in the amount of P200.00 in violation of Sections 4 and 5, Rule 64;
“(b) a duplicate original or certified true copy of the assailed September 14, 2017 Resolution of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) En Banc in EPC No. 2016-28 in violation of Section 5, Rule 64; and
“(c) the competent evidence of identity of the affiant who signed the verification and certification of non-forum shopping in violation of Section 5, Rule 64, in relation to Sections 4 and 5, Rule 7 of the Rules of Court and the 2004 Rules on Notarial Practice, as amended by the February 19, 2008 En Banc Resolution in A. M. No. 02-8-13-SC.
“Under Section 5, Rule 64 of the Rules of Court, the failure of the petitioner to comply with any of the foregoing requirements shall be sufficient ground for the dismissal of the petition,” said the high court.
“Accordingly, the instant Petition for Certiorari is dismissed,” it said.
Sought for comment yesterday, Puentevella said in a text message, “Merry Christmas everyone. And definitely a happier New Year!”
Puentevella’s protest before the Comelec “did not touch first base,” according to Joselito Bayatan, legal counsel for Leonardia.
Puentevella was unable to support his allegation on electoral fraud, so Comelec ruled that to entertain the election protest amounts to a “fishing expedition,” a city hall press release quoted Bayatan as saying.
If pursued, the protest will “open the floodgates of frivolous and sham election protests bearing conjectures, conclusions and suppositions of fraud,” said the lawyer.
Puentevella filed the protest on May 20, 2016. On Aug. 18 that year, Comelec First Division dismissed it for insufficiency in form and content.
In the same year, Puentevella filed a verified motion for reconsideration on Aug. 24 and a supplemental motion for reconsideration on Sept. 1. On Aug. 31, Comelec directed Leonardia to file his comment on Puentevella’s motion.
On Sept. 14, 2017, Comelec en banc denied Puentevella’s motion for reconsideration and affirmed Comelec First Division’s order to dismiss the protest.
“A motion for reconsideration may be filed on any of the following: (1) that the evidence is insufficient to justify the decision, order or ruling; or (2) that the said decision, order or ruling is contrary to law,” Comelec en banc said, citing Section 1, Rule 20 of Comelec Resolution No. 8804.
“None of the foregoing grounds were established in the instant motion. In fact, the motion for reconsideration failed to raise matters sufficiently persuasive to warrant the reversal of the assailed order,” it added. (With reports from the Bacolod City Public Information Office/PN)
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Ni Ime Sornito
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Syudad sang ILOILO – Patay ang isa sa duha ka high-value targets sa pagduso sang ilegal nga droga kag subjects sa warrant of arrest para sa kaso nga two counts of murder sa operasyon sang Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) 6 sa Barangay Ticud, La Paz alas-3:34 sang hapon kahapon. Gindeklarar nga dead-on-arrival sa West Visayas Medical Center si Aslani Ansari alyas Boy nga nakaagom sang pilas sa lawas. Na-aresto naman ang upod sini nga si Alex Mapandi alyas Angari/Agie, 31. Sandig sa report halin kay Senior Supt. Marlon Tayaba, hepe sang CIDG-6, upod ang mga katapo sang Special Weapons And Tactics kag Iloilo City Police Office, plano nila nga i-serbe ang warrant of arrest para sa kaso nga two counts of murder kontra sa duha sang nagluntad ang insidente. Ginapasuni nga nagbatu si Ansari paagi sa pagtiro sa isa sa mga katapo sang CIDG-6 rason nga na-puersa ang mga otoridad nga magbalos kabangdanan sang iya kamatayon. Narekober naman sa paghinakop sang duha ang duha ka mga pusil kag pila ka plastic sachets sang ginapatihan shabu. Sa interbyu naman sang mga katapo sang media kay Senior Insp. Rey Sumagaysay, hepe sang La Paz PNP, sanday Ansari kag Mapandi ang ginatudlo mga suspek sa pagpatay paagi sa pagsunog sa isa ka Muslim nga nasapwan nga naputos sa plastic sa circumferential road sa Brgy. Balabago, Jaro sang tinalikdan nga bulan./H
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