New House member representing farmers takes oath

Magsasaka party-list Representative Robert Nazal, Jr.  took his oath as member of the House of Representatives last October 10, his office said Wednesday.

In a statement, Nazal, an agriculture entrepreneur, said he took his oath of office before Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 220 Judge Jose Paneda on the same day the Commission on Elections (Comelec) issued a certificate of proclamation recognizing him as the qualified nominee of Magsasaka party-list.

After taking his oath, Nazal paid a courtesy call on Speaker Martin Romualdez at the Batasang Pambansa.

He also met with House Majority Leader Manuel Jose “Mannix” Dalipe and Senior Deputy Majority Leader Ferdinand Alexander “Sandro” Marcos.

Magsasaka party-list was one of the 55 groups the Comelec proclaimed as winners in the May 2022 elections with 272,737 votes, good for one seat in the House of Representatives.

Nazal, however, said he was able to assume office four months later since the Comelec had to resolve the internal dispute between Magsasaka national chairperson Soliman Villamin Jr. and the faction led by former Magsasaka party-list representative Argel Joseph Cabatbat.

Magsasaka party-list, in a separate statement, said the Comelec already issued a final En Banc decision last October 10, 2022 recognizing Nazal as the legitimate nominee of the winning party-list.

"As a consequence of these decisions, the Comelec – which has the final and indisputable say on the matter – likewise rendered the entity of Cabatbat and his splinter group as officially-recognized Magsasaka Party-List members null and void," it said.

In addition, the Magsasaka party-list said Nazal is an esteemed member of the "rightful, Comelec-approved Magsasaka party-list" for quite some time.

"A quick back-check of official Comelec records will show that Mr. Nazal was never a nominee of any other party-list. We hope that this clarifies the matter," Magsasaka party-list added.

Cabatbat said on October 11, they already asked the Supreme Court for a temporary restraining order on Comelec's decision favoring Nazal.

He maintained that Nazal is not a bonafide member of the Magsasaka party-list.

He said based on their research, Nazal is a founder and apparent nominee of Pasahero party-list which lost in the 2022 elections.

Likewise, Cabatbat said Nazal is a former nominee of the Bagong Henerasyon party-list back in 2019.

He said it is baffling that the Comelec cleared Nazal.

"Kung bakit pinayagan ng Comelec ang ganitong pambababoy sa batas ay sila lang ang nakakaalam. Labag sa batas ang pagpapaupo kay Nazal dahil hindi naman siya naging miyembro ng Magsasaka – isa sa mga requirement ng batas para maging nominado ng isang party-list," Cabatbat said in a separate statement.

(We are at a loss why would Comelec allow such trampling on the law because Nazal was never our member, a basic requirement for someone to be deemed a legitimate nominee of a party-list.)

"Hindi siya kasama sa naghirap na magtayo, magtaguyod, at mangampanya para sa kapakanan nating mga magsasaka," he added.

(Nazal was not among those who painstakingly pushed and campaigned for the causes of our farmers.)—AOL, GMA News