By Ferdinand Patinio
PNA
MANILA -- A local official of PDP-Laban filed a disqualification case against gubernatorial candidate, Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone and cancellation of accreditation of An Waray party-list for alleged violation of the Omnibus Election Code (OEC).
In a 10-page petition filed before the Commission on Elections (Comelec), PDP-Laban Visayas vice president and former Eastern Samar governor Lutgarda Barbo and Tingog party-list nominee Alexis Yu claimed that Evardone and An Waray presented the videos of lawmaker's accomplishments during the distribution of diplomas at the senior high school graduation at the Eastern Samar State University (ESSU)-Guiuan campus last April 2.
Evardone was also allowed to address the audience, the petitioners alleged.
“We filed this case because the future of our country is at stake here. These so-called leaders don’t deserve to be elected because not only they are morally bankrupt, but they are also brazen in violating the election laws even in the presence of the students and faculty members,” Barbo said on Wednesday.
The legislator's wife, Grace, is the second nominee of An Waray party-list.
Barbo said Evardone also violated Sections 104 and 261 (a) of the OEC, when he allegedly distributed envelopes, each marked with the name of Evardone and An Waray, supposedly containing money, to the students after the graduation rites.
The petitioners added that they have gathered sufficient evidence and testimonies from different witnesses at the said university which led them to file the charges.
“Filing this case against Evardone and An Waray is the right thing to do. We will hold them accountable for the violations they have committed,” Yu said.
Section 104 states that “no candidate, his or her spouse or any relative within the second civil degree of consanguinity or affinity, or his campaign manage, agent or representative shall, during the Campaign Period, on the day before and on the day of election, directly or indirectly, make any donation, contribution or gift in cash or in kind, or undertake or contribute to the construction or repair of churches or chapels or any structure for public use or for the use of any religious or civic organization.”
Section 261 (a), meanwhile, describes the violation of vote-buying and vote-selling by “(1) Any person who gives, offers or promises money or anything of value, gives or promises any office or employment, franchise or grant, public or private, or makes or offers to make an expenditure, directly or indirectly, or cause an expenditure to be made to any person, association, corporation, entirety or community in order to induce anyone or the public in general to vote for or against any candidate or withhold his vote in the election, or to vote for or against any aspirant for the nomination or choose of a candidate in a convention or similar selection process of a political party. (2) Any person, association, corporation, group or community who solicits or receives, directly or indirectly, any expenditures or promise of any office or employment, public or private, for any of the foregoing considerations.”
Meanwhile, Yu noted that the party-list organization violated Section 6 of Republic Act 7941 or Partylist System Act.
Section 6 of law states that “Comelec may moto proprio or upon verified complaint of any interested party, refuse or cancel, after due notice and hearing, the registration of any national, regional or sectoral party, organization or coalition on any of the following grounds: (2) It advocates violence or unlawful means to seek its goal; (5) It violates or fails to comply with laws, rules or regulations relating to elections.” (PNA)
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Topic: Eastern Samar Election (Read 351 times)