ILOILO CITY — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has been asked to disqualify the candidacy of Antonio Agapito Legarda Jr., the brother of incumbent Antique Congresswoman Loren Legarda.
A petition has been filed against Antonio Jr. that seeks to declare him as a nuisance candidate and the subsequent cancellation of his certificate of candidacy (COC).
Antonio Jr. is running for the congressional seat for the Lone District of Antique province and hopes to replace Loren, who is a senatorial candidate for the May 2022 elections.
Complainant Salvador Ungsod of Belison town claimed that Antonio Jr. is making a mockery out of the election process by using the alias of “Inday Loren” for his official candidacy despite being publicly known as “AA”.
“The use of ‘Inday Loren’ as his nickname or stage name is obviously intended to deceive and confuse the voters to make it appear that his sister is running for reelection,” said Ungsod in his petition submitted to Comelec.
While the Legardas have maternal roots in Pandan town, Ungsod also pointed out that Antonio Jr. is virtually unknown in the Antique political scene with no local experience.
Antonio Jr. is one of the three congressional candidates. The other two are former congressman Paolo Javier and Atty. Ade Fajardo, who is a former national president of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP).