DAVAO CITY (October 23) — A lawyer filed a petition to cancel the Certificate of Candidacy (COC) of Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III before the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Monday.
Lawyer Ferdinand Topacio filed the petition during the last day to file petitions to deny due course or cancel COC filed for the May 9, 2019 mid-term elections.
In his petition, Topacio said Senator Pimentel is ineligible to run as such under the two consecutive term limit rule as provided under the 1987 Constitution.
Topacio claimed, Pimentel’s COC for senator for the 2019 elections should be denied due course or cancelled due to material misrepresentation on his eligibility,” lawyer Ferdinand Topacio said in a nine-page petition.
But Pimentel said Topacio’s petition is a “nuisance petition,” saying he was confident he could prove his eligibility to seek another term in the 2019 midterm elections.
Pimentel said “Lawyers will answer the petition in due time if still required by Comelec (Commission on Elections). However, Comelec may surprise us by dismissing the petition outright for being a nuisance petition.”
In his petition, Topacio also cited Section 4, Article VI of the 1987 Constitution, which provides that no senator shall serve for more than two consecutive terms.
“Having already served for two consecutive terms as a senator, Pimentel is clearly ineligible to run for the same office as, otherwise, his election would allow him to serve for more than two consecutive terms,” Topacio said.
It can be recalled that Pimentel ran and lost in the 2007 elections, but he filed am electoral protest before teh Senate Electoral Tribunal against the 12th place Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri. In August 2011, the SET proclaimed him as the duly-elected senator.
The senator ran for re-election in the 2013 elections and won another six-year term.-ezc/NewsLine.ph
