The activist alliance of fishermen Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) said it had filed a supplemental information to the Comelec to beef up the disqualification case against former agriculture secretary Arthur Yap who is running unopposed as congressman in the third district of Bohol.
The supplemental information was signed by three officials of Barangay Buenavista, Municipality of Loboc, disproving Yap’s claim that he lives in the village and is a resident of the far-flung barangay, which the former agriculture secretary claimed as his present address as shown in his certificate of candidacy.
The supplemental information carried the signatures of former Barangay Buenavista secretary Corbino Cuhit, incumbent barangay councilor Basilio Balog and resident Mateo Ratonel, a brother of incumbent barangay councilor Boy Ratonel which said that Yap has never been a resident of the barangay and the controversial Cabinet member just arrived in their village at the start of the election season.
The three said the house and the address referred by Yap as his official domicile in Buenavista, Loboc is a far-flung community which is not passable by any regular vehicle except single motorcycles due to rough roads and mountainous curves.
In their 4-page disqualification case against Yap filed last March 9, Pamalakaya said the former agriculture secretary lacks qualification to run as congressman for the third district of Bohol because he is not a resident of the province, specifically in the said legislative district. The group asserted that the position for which Yap filed a certificate of candidacy requires that a candidate be a resident of the district (3rd District of Bohol) for a period of not less than one year immediately preceding the May 10, 2010 elections.
Pamalakaya maintained Yap failed to meet the qualification because the former agriculture secretary still lives in Ortigas, Pasig City and “there is no evidence or overt act that Yap abandoned his domicile of originâ€. The group said their case against Yap is similar to the recently decided case against actor Richard Gomez who was barred by Comelec from running in Leyte over the question of domicile.
“More than the issue of residency is the stockpile of graft charges filed against Secretary Yap before the Office of the Ombudsman regarding irregular and highly questionable use of taxpayers’ money by the agriculture department. This disqualification case pertaining to lack of qualification to run on the basis of residency is just part of the whole process to unearth the truth on controversies surrounding this controversial member of Cabinet of President Macapagal-Arroyo,†said Pamalakaya.
Last January 6, Pamalakaya filed plunder and other criminal and administrative charges against Yap in connection with the P455 million purchase of ice-making machines alleged to be grossly overpriced. Included in the charge sheet are President Arroyo and other officials of the National Agribusiness Corporation (Nabcor), an attached agency of the Department of Agriculture (DA), then headed by Yap.
“On top of the alleged P455 million ice making fund scam is the P7.14 billion which the Commission on Audit (COA) cited in its 2008 report was missing, diverted or bungled,†Pamalakaya added.
“We filed this case not to spoil the political ambition of Secretary Yap. We filed this case because we want truth and justice to prevail over the narrow interest of a new breed of traditional and corrupt politicians like Yap,†the fisherfolk alliance added.
Pamalakaya maintained Sec. Yap cannot even speak the language of Boholanos. The group also said the respondent and his family continue to stay in Metro Manila and that in the concept of domicile under election laws is at Alexandra Residence in Pasig City.
“How can he live and reside in Bohol when Yap practices his profession and conducts his business in Metro Manila? He continues to be a member of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, Makati Chapter and likewise holds office in Quezon City. He cannot even speak the language of Boholanos and the people of Central Visayas (Cebuano dialect) verbally and by heart. It is really impossible,†the group said.
The militant group asserted that Sec. Yap is not domiciled in Barangay, Buenavista in Loboc, Bohol or anywhere within the third legislative district of Bohol. It said “the respondent does not have real, substantial and material ties to the locality as to qualify him a resident of the said legislative districtâ€, adding that Yap spends much more time in Metro Manila than in Bohol.
“His visits in Bohol are infrequent, short and transient,†Pamalakaya concluded.
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