By Erwin Beleo
AGOO, La Union - The Supreme Court has dismissed a petition by a congressional candidate who questioned the citizenship of incumbent La Union Second District Representative Sandra Young Eriguel.
La Union Second District Representative Sandra Young Eriguel
(FACEBOOK / MANILA BULLETIN)
In an en banc resolution dated February 26, 2019, the high tribunal junked the Petition for Certiorari filed by Tomas M. Dumpit which challenged the earlier decision of the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET) in favor of Eriguel.
The Supreme Court ruled to dismiss the petition of Dumpit “for failure to sufficiently show that the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal committed any grave abuse of discretion in rendering the challenged decision which, on the contrary, appears to be in accord with the facts and applicable law and jurisprudence”.
Dumpit sought to reverse the decision of the HRET dated January 17, 2019 which ruled that Eriguel is a natural born Filipino and as such, eligible to sit as a member of the House of Representatives.
"In view thereof, pursuant to Section 6, Article IV of the 1987 Constitution, which mandates that the position of Representative is reserved only to natural-born Filipino citizens, the tribunal finds respondent (Eriguel) eligible to sit as member of the House of Representatives," the HRET said.
Dumpit and Eriguel were candidates for Representative of La Union's Second District in the May 9, 2016 elections. Eriguel was proclaimed the winner having obtained 150,020 votes against the 40,201 votes for Dumpit.