Pamplona Mayor Janice Degamo remains a legitimate candidate for representative of the Third District of Negros Oriental despite a petition for her disqualification, Comelec-Negros Island Region director Lionel Marco Castillano said on Thursday, May 8.
Running against Degamo (Lakas-CMD), who is the widow of the late Negros Oriental Governor Roel, for the Third District congressional seat are Reynaldo Lopez (Independent) and Janice Teves (Liberal Party).
Degamo is facing a disqualification complaint regarding her residency in Siaton town but Castillano said he does not know who the complainant is since it was probably filed directly with the Comelec central office in Manila.
The central office has not directed the NIR Comelec yet to serve summons to Degamo to respond to the complaint, Castillano said.
A disqualification case will have to be decided by the Comelec First Division first, after which a motion for reconsideration to a ruling can be filed before the Comelec en banc. A candidate can also seek further redress by going to the Supreme Court for an appeal and Temporary Restraining Oder, he added.
Why did they file a complaint questioning Degamo’s residency so close to the elections? If her residency is being questioned it should have been done earlier, Castillano said.
The complaint was filed at the end of April.
Should Degamo win in the May 12 polls and is declared the winner, the complaint before the Comelec could become moot and academic, Castillano said.
That is because questions on the qualification of a congressional bet who wins and has taken an oath will then have to be decided by the House Electoral Tribunal, Castillano said.
Andrei Bon Tagum, lawyer of Degamo, said his client has not received any copy of the complaint and summons from the Comelec yet.
Degamo transferred her registration as a voter to Siaton town, Negros Oriental, on May 6, 2024, which is allowed under the law, because she intended to run for congresswoman of the Third District, he said.
Degamo has completed her residency requirement of one year in Siaton for her to qualify as a congressional candidate in the Third District, he added.
Degamo has a house in Barangay Bonawon, Siaton, where the late governor was buried, and runs a fishing business from the town, Tagum said.*