The Commission on Elections (Comelec) First Division's resolution to disqualify Albay Governor Noel Rosal is not yet final and executory, Chairman George Erwin Garcia said on Tuesday, Sept. 20.
In an interview on ANC, Garcia said that the decision is still subject to a motion for reconsideration. He added that under the Comelec rules and procedure, the listing party has the right to file a motion for reconsideration within a period of five weeks from the receipt of the decision.
Comelec Acting Spokesperson John Rex C. Laudiangco said in a statement that Rosal cannot yet be removed from office and implement the disqualification without a Certificate of Finality and a corresponding Writ of Execution.
Rosal was found liable for violating Section 261 of the Omnibus Election Code (OEC) or the 45-day spending ban.
In the petition filed by Joseph San Juan Armogila, he detailed that the respondents violated Sections a, l, b, o, and v of the Omnibus Election Code which includes the prohibited acts that would be categorized as election offenses.
In what he enumerated there, it comprises of vote-buying and vote-selling; conspiracy to bribe voters; intervention of public officers and employees; use of public funds, money deposited in trust, equipment, and facilities owned or controlled by the government for an election campaign; and the prohibition against release, disbursement or expenditure of public fund.
According to the affidavit, this was in connection to a two-day cash assistance payout for tricycle drivers in the amount of P2,000. It also stated that the release of cash assistance to tricycle drivers and senior citizens is in violation of the aforementioned provisions of the law.
In response to claims that the decision may appear hypocritical given that a lot of candidates did this during the campaign, Garcia stated that It's unfair for them to say they would like to set an example through this decision but what they're saying is that there are no privileged individuals that they cannot touch simply because they are so high or simply because they are so powerful.
"What we are saying is everything or all our laws should be made applicable to everyone. And that's why this is a warning to everyone. This is what we had been consistently saying, and this is what we have been trying to prove that in the final analysis, the long arm of the law will catch on you," Garcia explained.
You can either be disqualified or at the same time, you can be charged with an election offense punishable by up three to six years imprisonment. The personalities involved are inconsequential. We can certainly say all of these things, but what is important is there was a violation of our law. And at the same time, we wanted to say, we are on top of this situation," he added.