Comelec unseats Pangasinan mayor over US passport

CAGAYAN, Philippines – After the Supreme Court upheld its decision, the Commission on Elections ordered Basista, Pangasinan Mayor Manolito De Leon to vacate his post and be replaced by his 2013 election rival, Evelyn Perez.

In a Writ of Execution signed by Comelec Chairman Andres Bautista on January 27, the poll body said that the municipal board of canvassers will declare Perez as the new mayor of Basista.

The turnover happens barely 3 months before the May elections.

It was Perez who filed a disqualification case against De Leon, alleging that her political nemesis used his US passport in the years 2011 and 2012 while he was serving as mayor of the town.

Perez cited records from the Bureau of Immigration to prove her case against De Leon.

Dual citizen

The Comelec en banc ruled in favor of Perez on October 9, 2015, upholding the decision of the Second Division 9 months earlier.

The Comelec said De Leon should have not have been allowed to run in the 2013 elections because he used his US passport before he filed his candidacy.

The poll body ruled that although De Leon renounced his foreign citizenship in 2009, the use of his US passport in 2011 and 2012 made him a a “dual citizen” again.

“However, his acts of using his American passport on Sept. 10, 2010 and June 26, 2011 or before the 2013 elections effectively barred him from running and holding public office. He reverted to his earlier status of being a dual citizen,” the resolution said.

De Leon brought the case to the Supreme Court, which declared that Comelec was “correct” in ruling against him.

De Leon and Perez are running against each other again for mayor in the May 2016 polls. – Rappler.com