TAGUM CITY, DAVAO DEL NORTE-— The chairperson of the Sangguniang Kabataan of Sto. Tomas town here will face libel, electioneering and disqualification cases after he reportedly maligned the town mayor and another SK officer in a political rally last week.
Ina press statement, Municipal administrator Atty. Elaiza Evangelista-Lapiña, the daughter of Mayor Ernesto Evangelista, said they are now preparing charges against SK Chairman Daryl Omallao of Magwawa for spewing baseless, libelous, defamatory statements.
Lapiña said , Omallao fabricated stories against town Mayor Ernesto Evangelista and SK Chairperson Bernadeth Eugenio-Aquino of Barangay Tibal-og in a political rally last week.
“He will will face an administrative case in relation to the electoral offense he committed in his performance as a Sangguniang Kabataan official,” Lapiña in a press statement emphasized.
The lawyer claimed, Omallao willfully appeared in a political rally last week in Barangay San Jose where he served as one of the resource speakers. “Omallao gave what legal authorities branded as “defamatory and libelous statements” against Evangelista and Eugenio. The political rally was streamed live on Facebook where Omallao was shown to be engaging in partisan politics..”
Atty. Lapiña said the administrative case stemmed from election offense as a ground will be submitted before the Comelec for appropriate action. Copies of the said complaint will also be furnished to the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Office of the Ombudsman in Mindanao.
Section 261(i) of the Omnibus Election Code penalizes as election offenses the electioneering and partisan political activities. Section 264 provides that “[a]any person found guilty of any election offense under this Code shall be punished with imprisonment of not less than one year but not more than six years and shall not be subject to probation.
In addition, if Omallao will be found guilty of committing an election offense, he shall be sentenced to suffer disqualification to hold public office and deprivation of the right of suffrage.“Omallao must offer proof of his accusations.
Lapiña said Omallao’s imputation against the two public officials is actionable because all are false allegations and his opinion is not even based on established facts. . “Dura lex, sed lex, the law is harsh but that’s the law.”
Early on, Sangguniang Kabataan Federation President and SK Chairwoman of Barangay Tibal-og Bernadeth Eugenio-Aquino denied all the baseless allegations made by Omallao.“
But as of this publication, the Evangelista camp has yet to file charges before the competent court.-Newsline
