Mayor Lucilo R. Bayron is facing yet another legal challenge as three individuals filed a petition before the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) seeking to nullify his proclamation as the winning mayor of Puerto Princesa City in the May 9, 2022 elections.
Benhar Halipa, Salvador Tinay, and Francis Lawrence Ganibo filed before the COMELEC en banc a Motion to Admit Memorandum of Authorities with a Motion to Suspend the Effects of the Respondent’s (Bayron) Proclamation last July 14.
The three also filed a petition to nullify Bayron’s candidacy for mayor in the May 9 elections, which the COMELEC 2nd division denied. They then filed a motion for reconsideration, which the COMELEC has yet to decide.
In their latest petition, they accused the 2nd division of “grave abuse of discretion… to have summarily dismissed instant petition based solely on the alleged failure of the petitioners to attach respondent’s certificate of candidacy.” They also said that the 2nd division threw out the petition too soon and didn’t even give the respondent a chance to answer.
They also asked the COMELEC to stop Bayron’s proclamation from having any effect while the petition is being heard. They also asked the COMELEC again to remove him from the May 9 elections.
Furthermore, they also asked the COMELEC to order the Puerto Princesa City Board of Canvassers to reconvene and consider the votes Bayron received as stray or invalid to pave the way for the proclamation of the “candidate who received the highest number of votes among the remaining qualified candidates.”
Sought for reaction, city administrator Atty. Arnel Pedrosa said the mayor received a copy of the petition last Tuesday and has forwarded the same to his lawyers in Manila for appropriate action.
