Ducky Paredes

“So, why do we have to go through such a long, long expensive and tedious process just to disqualify someone who was never qualified to be a congressman in the first place?”

by Ducky Paredes

Section 6, Article VI of the 1987 Constitution states: “No person shall be a Member of the House of Representatives unless he is a natural-born citizen of the Philippines and, on the day of the election, is at least twenty-five years of age, able to read and write, and, except the party-list representatives, a registered voter in the district in which he shall be elected, and a resident thereof for a period of not less than one year immediately preceding the day of the election.”
That seems  clear enough. So, why do we have to go through such a long, long expensive and tedious process just to disqualify someone who was never qualified to be a congressman in the first place?
When actor Dan Fernandez filed as a candidate for Congressman in the First District of Laguna, it was not his first time to stand for an elective post. In 1998, he won a seat in the provincial board of Laguna. In 2001, he was elected vice-governor. He ran for Laguna governor in 2004 but lost to then incumbent Ningning Salazar. Thus, when he ran for congressman in the First District in 2007, most of the voters already knew him.
Among those who knew him was Jesus Vicente and Vicente knew that Dan was not qualified to be congressman in the First District because the former vice-governor was not “a registered voter in the district in which he shall be elected, and a resident thereof for a period of not less than one year immediately preceding the day of the election.”
Thus, after Fernandez had been elected, proclaimed and had assumed his office, Jesus Vicente filed a protest with the House Electoral Tribunal (HRET),
Questions relating to the election, returns, and qualifications of any member of the House of Representatives is decided by the HRET. This is composed of nine Members, three of whom are Justices of the Supreme Court and six congressmen chosen on the basis of proportional representation from the political parties and the parties or organizations elected under the party-list system.
But, why do we have to wait for the electoral process to finish before disqualifying the constitutionally infirm candidate? Cannot this be done at the local level? After all, we do have barangays which issue residence certificates to its residents? Can’t we trust them to do a proper certification of residency?
If we cannot, of what use are our barangay officials and the certificates and the certifications that, from time to time, we are duty-bound to procure from them?
At, any rate, the HRET granted the petition for quo warranto filed against Dan Fernandez, resulting in Fernandez’ disqualification as congressional representative of the first district of Laguna. As a result, the First District will not have a congressman until the next election in 2010. (The one who ran against Fernandez, after all, lost the election. So, how can he claim the seat? In the case of Congressman Butz Aquino of Makati who was also disqualified when he first stood for election in his district, the losing candidate was not able to assume the congressional seat.)
Who is Jesus Vicente? He is basically a nobody. He was not the opponent of Fernandez, nor does he have any political links with anyone; he is not a businessman, a civic leader or even a fellow actor.
Jesus Vicente is a retired Manila Electric Co. employee and a resident of the First District of Laguna. Why did he do it? According to our hero: “Everybody is saying, ‘Don’t  proceed because nothing would come out of it anyway’. But that made me even more adamant to prove  to them that our justice system is not rotten. And there is no better example  than a simple guy whose voice was heard to ferret out the truth.”
Wow!
The HRET established that Fernandez was not truthful in declaring his real residence. According to the HRET, the fact that Fernandez’s permanent residence is still in Pagsanjan located in the Fourth District of Laguna is irrefutable. In all of his previous Certificates of Candidacy (1998, 2001 and 2004 Elections), Fernandez declared under oath that his permanent residence (domicile) was Pagsanjan. However, only in the 2007 Elections did he claim to have changed his residence to Sta. Rosa City located in the First District of Laguna without abandoning his domicile of origin which is Pagsanjan.
The tribunal ruled that Fernandez recited a detailed pattern of shuttling occupancy from one property to another. The HRET decided that “[Fernandez] should not be allowed to avail any lame or flimsy excuse to disregard or evade the Constitutional requirement if only to enable him to run for Representative of the First District of Laguna, to which he does not legally, permanently belong.”
Moreover, Fernandez’s attempt to present proof showed apparent deficiencies including un-notarized documents and the absence of witnesses, as well as the presentation of a renewed contract of lease that is actually a fabricated document, with the notarization coming from Fernandez’s brother-in-law. This – having a relative notarizing your document — is prohibited under the Notarial Law.
At best, Fernandez’s most convincing proof of his claimed residency would have been the grapevine talks from residents of the community. However, the HRET points out, petitioner Jesus Vicente, a resident of Sta.Rosa City, Laguna located in the First District and witnesses testified that they did not see Fernandez in the leased premises.
This case is about the triumph of common folk whose concern for their hometown gave them the courage to step up and take a stand against seemingly insurmountable odds.
“Natutuwa kami, na mga simpleng mamayan tulad namin ay nabibigyan ng boses at ng pagkakataon na mapakingan, alang alang sa katotohanan,” says Vicente.
The decision was reached by the HRET composed of  Supreme Court Justice Consuelo Ynares-Santiago, SC Justice Conchita Carpio-Morales, Baguio Rep. Mauricio Domogan, Capiz Rep. Fredenil Castro, Bohol Rep. Roberto Cajes, Ifugao Rep. Solomon Chungalao and Aklan Rep. Florencio Miraflores, with 7-2 vote.

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hvp 12.28.08)