Daven Tamayo

Comelec division declares Abante winner in Manila's 6th District

Article (news)

Dennis Gasgonia

Job Manahan

ABS-CBN News

<p>MANILA — Rep. Bienvenido &quot;Benny&quot; Abante Jr. has officially been re-elected congressman of Manila&#x27;s 6th District after the Commission on Elections&#x27; Second Division declared his rival&#x27;s certificate of candidacy void.</p><p>Comelec on Wednesday announced that Abante&#x27;s rival Luis &quot;Joey&quot; Chua Uy has been declared a non-candidate as his COC was voided.</p><p>This paved the way for Abante, who has been in position since 2019, to be declared &quot;as the duly elected Member, House of Representatives, 6th District of the City of Manila.&quot;</p><p>The decision can still be appealed.</p><p>Prior to the decision, Abante narrowly lost the polls to Uy with 63,358 votes against Uy&#x27;s 64,746.</p><div><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fcomelec.ph%2Fposts%2Fpfbid02d9yh2JXG4JxVjfqcHJdxG9i1JFm6pq7gC2xPvMAaontja8FspAG4LWSAVokGhg9zl&amp;show_text=true&amp;width=500" width="500" height="574" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><br/></div><p>Abante was one of the co-chairmen of the the formidable House Quad Committee that launched a high-stakes probe into the controversies surrounding former President Rodrigo Duterte.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>NATURALIZED CITIZEN? </strong></div><div><br/></div><p>In the decision shared to the media, the poll body’s division ruled that Chua Uy was not a natural-born citizen but rather a “naturalized citizen” contrary to the information on his certificate of candidacy (COC).</p><p>The Comelec said when Chua Uy was born on March 15, 1962, his father was a Chinese citizen “who became a naturalized Filipino on 28 August 1967.” His mother, meanwhile, was &quot;a Filipino citizen prior to her marriage in January 1944” to his father who is a Chinese national.</p><p>“Accordingly, both parents were non-Filipinos when respondent was born, thereby precluding the latter from being considered a natural-born Filipino. Since natural-born citizenship requires that the individual be a citizen of the Philippines from birth without having to perform any act to acquire or perfect such citizenship, respondent cannot validly claim natural-born status,” the document read.</p><p>“His Identification Certificate which recognized Respondent as a citizen of the Philippines solely by virtue of ‘being the legitimate son of Uy Ho, a Naturalized Filipino Citizen.’ This document confirms that Respondent&#x27;s citizenship was not acquired by birthright but derived from the naturalization of his father,” it added.</p><p>Aside from this, Chua Uy was supposedly issued an identification certificate by the Bureau of Immigration.</p><p>“The BI will not get involved unless there is a need for the administration and enforcement of immigration, citizenship and alien admission and registration laws. Thus, respondent&#x27;s acquisition of citizenship was not without the performance of an act; it involved the processing and approval of an Identification Certificate which requires specific conditions and documentary requirements, and was dependent on the grant of citizenship to his father,” the second division said.</p><p>All these considered, the Comelec division said Chua Uy “made a false declaration in his COC” and therefore he made a “material misrepresentation” under the Omnibus Election Code.</p><p>“His misrepresentation pertains to a fundamental qualification under the Constitution. As such, he is not qualified to run for or hold the position of Member of the House of Representatives, and his proclamation was thus made in violation of the Constitution,” the document read.</p><p>Because of this, Chua Uy is now considered a “non-candidate” and his COC is void.</p><p>“The votes cast in his favor are considered stray and should not have been counted,” it said.</p><p>“Respondent&#x27;s proclamation should thus be annulled leaving Petitioner the only qualified candidate who obtained the highest number of votes for the position of Member, House of Representatives in the Sixth (6th) District of the City of Manila,” it added.</p><p>Prior to the decision, Abante narrowly lost the polls with 63,358 votes against Uy&#x27;s 64,746.</p><div><br/></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QMP2C-e8rvA?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>Rep. Bienvenido "Benny" Abante Jr. has officially been re-elected as the House Representatives for the Sixth District of Manila after the certificate of candidate of his rival was declared void.</p>

Rep. Bienvenido "Benny" Abante Jr. has officially been re-elected as the House Representatives for the Sixth District of Manila after the certificate of candidate of his rival was declared void.