The Commission on Elections (Comelec) maintained on Thursday, Oct. 13 that they gave ample time for their decision on the Magsasaka Party-list faction to be questioned but they have not received a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) until the 30th day.
In a press briefing, Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia explained that due to this, the poll body proceeded with the issuance of a Certificate of Finality in Judgment as well as a Certificate of Proclamation.
Robert Gerard Nazal Jr. recently took oath on Oct. 10 as a member of the lower chamber of the Magsasaka Party-list.
Garcia explained that before the May 2022 elections, two factions filed a Manifestation of Intent to participate.
The factions were led by former Magsasaka Party-list Rep. Argel Joseph Cabatbat and the group’s national chair, Soliman Villamin Jr. Both factions argued that they are the legitimate representative of the party, which led to the intra-party dispute.
Garcia explained that Comelec proclaimed based on their determination that the said faction of Villamin correctly filed the manifestation of intent to participate. Therefore, whoever their number 1 nominee is based on their record, was the one to be proclaimed.
In this case, he explained that all nominees of the party resigned, to which they submitted a new set of nominees, including Nazal who Cabatbat was questioning.
He argued that Nazal is not a member of the party-list and according to him is a founder and nominee of Pasahero Party-list that lost in the recent elections. However, according to Garcia, the poll body's records show otherwise, meaning Nazal is not among Pasahero party-list's nominees.
Now that the case is with the Supreme Court (SC), Garcia said that if the House of Representatives recognized their proclamation, it is now up to them to answer and decide since Comelec's role in it is over.
Magsasaka placed 46th in the party-list race during the May 2022 polls, after getting 276,889 votes, thereby earning one seat in the Lower House.