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Marinduque solon insists on keeping congressional seat

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RG Cruz, ABS-CBN News

MANILA - The camp of Marinduque Rep. Regina Ongsiako Reyes is calling on the House leadership not to implement an order to unseat her as congressional representative and swear in her political rival, former Congressman Lord Allan Velasco.Reyes&#x27; lawyer, Harry Roque, told reporters at the lower House that the order of the Supreme Court (SC) is not yet final since they have filed a motion for reconsideration before the high court as well as a motion for the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET) to annul and set aside its December 14 resolution, which stated that it will not tackle the quo warranto case against Reyes.That House resolution deferred to a Commission on Elections (Comelec) resolution which took back Reyes&#x27; proclamation as winner in the 2013 elections.&quot;Nauna pong nadeklara si Regina Reyes as the winner bago nagkadesisyon ang en banc ng Comelec na she was disqualified,&quot; Roque said.Reyes&#x27; qualification for congressman was assailed by her defeated rival, Velasco, who raised the matter of her American citizenship.Velasco is the son of SC Associate Justice Presbitero Velasco.Roque maintained that in ordering the oath taking of Velasco, the SC &quot;infringed on an exclusive prerogative of the House of Representatives through the HRET.&quot;&quot;Therefore, the House Speaker shouldn&#x27;t act on the decision of the Supreme Court because we have already filed our motion for reconsideration, we also now have a motion to annul and set aside the invalid resolution of 14 December 2015 of the HRET,&quot; he added.READ: <a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/nation/01/12/16/sc-orders-speaker-to-administer-oath-to-velasco" target="_blank">SC orders Speaker to administer oath to Velasco</a> Roque maintained that candidates for senator and congressman cannot be subjected to pre-proclamation controversies, so any controversies will fall under the jurisdiction of the House or Senate electoral tribunals.&quot;Although the court is the ultimate interpreter of the Constitution, it doesn&#x27;t have the sole power to interpret nor to defend and promote the Constitution, even the political branches of government, even Congress through process of impeachment if impeachable officers, are violating the Constitution. Kaya nga po one ground is culpable violation of the Constitution,&quot; he said.He also added that one reason the HRET&#x27;s December 14, 2015 resolution must be set aside is because it lacked the necessary votes.Roque cited that when the resolution was handed out, HRET member Gabriela Party-list Rep. Luz Ilagan had already forfeited her seat since she filed her candidacy as city councilor in Davao City under the party of Mayor Rodrigo Duterte. Ilagan voted for the resolution.&quot;Nag-file na kami ng motion to annul kasi 4-3, in reality should be 3-3, kasi dapat wala nang boto si Cong. Ilagan... Dahilan ay Section 15 of Republic Act 7941, she&#x27;s been deemed to have forfeited her seat when she filed her COC (certificate of candidacy) under the party of Mayor Duterte.&quot;If you&#x27;re no longer representing your marginalized sector then and you&#x27;ve opted to join a regular party-list, you cease to be a representative under the party-list system.&quot;Ilagan, however, maintained she is still an incumbent congresswoman.&quot;That is not true! The ruling when filing a COC is only for appointed officials. I am an elected official. Di sana party-list reps here like Neri [Colmenares] and [Samuel] Pagdilao should no longer be recognized. I am not being nominated as party-list rep. That ruling applies to officials who still want to run as party-list rep under another PL or sector,&quot; she said.Roque also maintained that the December 14, 2015 resolution of the HRET is not final since he, as the lead counsel, was never furnished a copy of the same.The lawyer added that the HRET should have conducted independent determination of facts and applicable laws after conducting a trial rather than relying on Reyes vs Comelec.He also said the HRET decision contravenes the constitutional rule that the HRET shall be the sole judge of all contests relating to the election, returns and qualifications of their members.Ilagan was replaced as a member of the HRET during Wednesday&#x27;s plenary session.House Minority Leader Ronaldo Zamora manifested to the body that Ilagan&#x27;s Gabriela colleague, Rep. Emmy de Jesus, would replace Ilagan as member of the HRET for the minority.No reason was given.

MANILA - The camp of Marinduque Rep. Regina Ongsiako Reyes is calling on the House leadership not to implement an order to unseat her as congressional representative and swear in her political rival, former Congressman Lord Allan Velasco.

Marinduque solon insists on keeping congressional seat

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Marinduque solon insists on keeping congressional seat

RG Cruz,

ABS-CBN News

Published Jan 20, 2016 06:52 PM PHT

|

Updated Jan 21, 2016 03:48 AM PHT

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Marinduque

Regina Reyes

Lord Allan Velasco

House of Representatives

politics

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