By Miriam G Desacada
Tacoban City–Instead of relying, through an election, on the perceived political strength to win the reelection bid of her husband, Rep. Richard “Goma” Gomez (4th district), Ormoc City Mayor Lucy Torres-Gomez moved to clear the pathway free of obstruction toward the obsessed victory without an opponent.
Lucy recently filed a petition to disqualify Goma’s opponent, Vicente “Ching” Veloso III, who she alleged as not a resident of the 4th district and, thus, not qualified to run for the district’s congressional seat. If she succeeds on this underhanded tactic, then Goma will be rid of opposition to guarantee his reelection.
At least this is the implied goal of Lucy’s goal to disqualify Ching, according to many political observers in the district. But she is making a blunder, they added, because the issue against Ching’s residency was already resolved by the Comelec in an earlier complaint of similar nature.
Weeks before the filing of COCs in October, Ching applied to transfer his voter’s registration from Villaba town (3rd district) to Isabel (4th district). This prompted one female resident of Isabel to file an objection at the Comelec, arguing that Ching was never a resident of the town, and had no residential house either.
Ching debunked these claims by showing photos of his commercial building, the upper floor of which also serves as his residence that he had been inhabiting for years already. An ocular inspection of the Comelec had confirmed the veracity of Ching’s photos and went on to approve his application for voter’s transfer.
Isabel’s incumbent Mayor Edgar Cordeño even confirmed that Ching has been a resident of the town since 1979 when the LIDE (Leyte Industrial Development Estate) was established as a special industrial economic zone. “As a resident then, Ching acquired several properties here,” attested the mayor.
Comelec records further showed that Ching lived in Isabel when he ran but lost, along with five others, for congressman of the 4th district in 1987 that was subsequently won by Carmelo Locsin of Ormoc. The Comelec subsequently junked the objection and approved Ching’s transfer of voter’s registration to Isabel.
With that ruling of the Comelec on Ching being a resident and voter of Isabel, and the 4th district in general, Ching filed his COC for a congressman of the district, a move incidentally supported by five of seven mayors of the district.
With the issue of Ching’s residency already resolved at the Comelec in Isabel, it would be odd to assume that Lucy did not learn about it, and prompted her even to file in court a petition seeking the disqualification of Ching’s candidacy based on the allegation that he is not a resident of the district.
Ching, upon knowing Lucy’s petition against an already resolved issue, assailed the city mayor’s move, which he described as a desperate effort perhaps of a wife obsessed of her husband’s victory at all costs.
Ching, who was a former congressman of the 3rd district, tagged the petition of Lucy, also a former congresswoman of the 4th district, as “perjurious” or a big lie. Lucy used the testimony of one Rhodora Basilio, who was the complainant-objector against Ching’s transfer of voter’s registration filed earlier but was dismissed by the Comelec.
Based on Philippine jurisprudence, any complaint filed on an issue that was already given conclusive judgment or settled by a court that has jurisdiction on the matter, no longer has due course to be reopened, said Ching. His official statement:
Lucy’s move is “perjurious” or a lie when she said that I am not a resident of the 4th district, thus unqualified to run for congressman of the district.
“Iyang gigamit nga rason ang testimoniya sa usa ka Rhodora Basilio nga nag-ingon nga wala ako nagpuyo sa barangay Mahayag, Isabel. Hinumdomi nga mao ra pod ning babayhana ang nireklamo sa Comelec aron babagan ang akong pag-transfer sa akong voter’s registration – reklamo nga gi-junk na sa Comelec nga niaprubar na sa akong pagtransfer.
“Na-establisar na sa balaod nga ang kiha nga humana ma-desisyonan, unya wala ni apelar ang reklamante sama ni Basilio, dili na pwede ablihan. Usa pa sad, kani si Basilio niangkon sa iyang affidavit nga siya mismo dili taga barangay Mahayag, taga layong bukid siya. Mentras, diay kagawad sa Mahayag, ug mismo ang mayor sa Isabel, nisaksi nga nag okupar ako sa second floor sa usa ka building nga commercial ang ubos, apan residensya ang ibabaw.
Gi-imbitar kini si Basilio pagkuyog sa Comelec nga nag ocular inspection sa akong lugar, apan nagdumili siya pagtan-aw. Duna pod koy mga papeles nagpamatuod nga 2011 pa lang, nangayo na ko ug building permit. Usa pa sad, nasayod ang tanan nga nilansar na ko kaniadto sa kongreso sa kwatro distrito,” said Ching in his Bisaya statement.
So, why would Lucy lie in her petition, just to disqualify me? What is she afraid of?” asked Ching in his statement. — Miriam G.Desacada