NEWS FLASH
SC orders COMELEC to proclaim Nograles as Congressional Elections victor
By Isagani P. Palma
GENERAL SANTOS CITY (September 19, 2019) -The Supreme Court has ordered the Commission on Elections to uphold the results of the May 13, 2019 Congressional elections for the newly created First District of South Cotabato province and this city, respectively.
In a September 17, 2019 Supreme Court (En Banc) decision, the Commission on Elections has been directed to convene a special provincial board of canvassers to proclaim petitioner Shirlyn Banas-Nograles as the winning candidate to represent in Congress, the First District of South Cotabato, Including General Santos City.
Associate Justice Rosmari D. Carandang, as concurred by Chief justice Lucas P. Bersamin and the rest of other 13 SC En Banc justices, ruled that the election for the First Legislative District of the Province of South Cotabato on May 13, 2019 should not have been suspended, and the candidate obtaining the most number of votes for the said position must be - proclaimed.
And that, consequently, the holdover provision under Section 2 of R.A. 11243 would be inapplicable since there would already be a newly elected and qualified Representative.
“ The instant petition is hereby granted. Comelec Resolution 11243 is hereby declared NULL and VOID. And the elections for the Legislative of the First District of South Cotabato, including General Santos City is upheld,” the Supreme Court, ruled.
Nograles, a former three-termed Vice Mayor of this city, earlier filed a petition for “Certiorari with Urgent Prayer for Issuance of a Status Quo Ante Order," with prayer that the election results of the recently concluded voting may not be declared as ‘stray’ by the COMELEC.
This, after the COMELEC en banc, through IRR No. 10524 has ordered for the deferral of the election, and rescheduled the same in this year’s month of October.
However, RA 11243, which is an Act reapportioning the First Legislative District of the Province of South Cotabato thereby creating the lone district of General Santos City that was signed by no less President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, has been sighted to have clearly provided that the reconfiguration will only take effect in the next local elections or in 2022, and not this year.
Vied bearing the banner of the Senator Emmanuel D. Pacquiao-led People’s Champ Movement (PCM), Nograles was among the three congressional seat contenders during elections, where she has able to garner a support votes that goes through over four floods as compared to each of the other election aspirants. (30)
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Topic: Result for First District of South Cotabato (Read 440 times)