Comelec cancels registration of An Waray party-list

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) Second Division has cancelled the registration of An Waray party-list for allowing a second nominee to sit as a member of Congress without the proper authority in violation of the party-list law.

In a resolution released on Friday, June 2, the Comelec Second Division said it allowed its second nominee during the 2016 polls, lawyer Victoria Isabel Noel, to sit as a member of the House of Representatives knowing "fully well" that the the poll body has not issued a Certificate of Proclamation entitling her to do so.

The resolution stemmed from a petition filed by Danilo Pornias, Jr. and Jude Acidre back in April 2019.

The Second Division noted that while An Waray was proclaimed as one of the winners in the party-list race during the 2013 polls and was initially entitled to two seats in the House of Representatives, this was recomputed and reduced to one seat only under National Board of Canvassers (NBC) Resolution No. 13-030(PL)/004-14 issued on August 20, 2014.

“Without a Certificate of Proclamation for its second nominee, An Waray was entitled to one seat only in relation to the 2013 National and Local Elections, thus Atty. [Isabel] Noel's assumption to office as Representative of An Waray had no legal basis,” the Comelec said in a statement.

“The recomputation of seats was made following the Supreme Court's order, in Abang Lingkod Party List vs. Comelec, to proclaim Abang Lingkod party-list as one of the winning party-list groups in the 2013 National and Local Elections with the number of seats it may be entitled to, and in view of the then-pendency of the case of Senior Citizens party-list before the Supreme Court,” the Comelec added.

The same Comelec Resolution on the Acidre petition also cited that the NBC Resolution No. 0008-13 issued on May 28, 2013, which An Waray solely relied on as the basis for allowing its second nominee to take her oath and assume office as Representative in the House, expressly stated that the seats initially allocated is "without prejudice to the proclamation of other parties, organizations or coalitions which may later on be established to be entitled to one guaranteed seat and/ or additional seat.”

Comelec spokesperson Rex Laudiangco said the decision is not yet final and executory but clarified that An Waray has limited time to appeal the decision before the Comelec en banc.

“An Waray has five days from today to file Motion for Reconsideration (MR). Should they fail to do so within the reglementary period, the decision will become final and executory,” Laudiangco told reporters.

"The Resolution has yet to become final and executory but should it be so, please recall  that the primary qualification to be able to participate in the party-list system of representation elections is its registration, and such qualification must be continually possessed," Laudiangco added when asked if the Comelec Second Division’s decision impacts the current seat of An Waray party-list Representative Florencio “Bem” Noel, brother of Victoria Isabel Noel.

Bem Noel, in a message to GMA News Online, said the party "will exhaust all legal remedies."

Acidre  is also a 19th Congress member like Noel representing the Tingog party-list.

Road ahead

Election lawyer Emil Marañon III said that An Waray has a lot of legal remedies following the decision.

“The decision is not yet final, and An Waray may still file an MR. While the MR is pending with the Comelec en Banc, the effects of the decision is deemed suspended and for the meantime, it will have no effect on its sitting nominee,” Marañon told GMA News Online in a text message.

In the event that the Comelec en Banc affirms the decision of the Second Division, he said that an appropriate Quo Warranto petition still needs to be filed with the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET) to remove the sitting An Waray nominee.

“The removal is not automatic as the Supreme Court has already ruled that the member of Congress is the nominee, not the party-list organization per se,” he added.—LDF, GMA Integrated News