Duterte: poll boost

By William B Depasupil
Manila Times


Davao City Mayor Rodrigo “Rody” Duterte won the first round of his legal battle for a slot in next year’s presidential elections, after the Commission on Elections (Comelec) accepted his certificate of candidacy (COC) as a substitute candidate of PDP-Laban.
Round 2, however, is set to unfold later when the Comelec’s First Division tackles a disqualification case against the tough-talking mayor.
The disqualification case had been submitted for resolution last Tuesday after the petitioner, broadcaster Ruben Castor, failed to appear before the Comelec for preliminary conference and marking of evidence in preparation for oral arguments the following day.
The First Division, headed by Commissioner Christian Robert Lim with Commissioners Rowena Guanzon and Luie Tito Guia as members, is set to hear the case. In his petition, Castor questioned the validity of Duterte’s COC, claiming it was “defective.”
Among those that the First Division will tackle at the hearing are Duterte’s notarised COC for mayor and president, the date he withdrew his COC for mayor and the date he filed his COC for president and the notarised contents of the two COC, among others.
Under the process of substitution, Duterte has to withdraw his COC for mayor of Davao City, take his oath as member of the PDP-Laban and submit a certificate of nomination and acceptance or CONA from his political party. Just hours after Duterte’s COC for president was filed, Castor, represented by lawyers, Oliver Lozano and Evangeline Lozano Endriano, immediately filed a petition seeking to nullify the mayor’s COC.
In seeking the disqualification of Duterte, he claimed that the COC of Martin Dino was not for president but for mayor of Pasay City (Metro Manila), thus he can only withdraw his candidacy for mayor, not for president.