MANILA, Philippines – The Kabalikat ng Mamamayan (Kabayan) Party List on Tuesday, January 24, has decided to remove Representative Harry Roque as one of its members.

The group cited Roque’s “inappropriate” line of questioning toward the ex-lover of Senator Leila de Lima during a congressional probe into the reported illegal drug trade inside the New Bilibid Prison. (READ: The House’s ‘climax’ congressmen: Who are they?)

As a result, Kabayan said that Roque would cease to represent them in Congress, leaving one of its two seats in the House of Representatives vacant. Congressman Ron Salo is Kabayan’s other member in the House.

The party list said it would leave the implementation of their decision to the House leadership. But an election lawyer pointed out that the removal and replacement of party-list representatives would have to go through a process.

“After a party list wins the polls and its nominees get proclaimed, for all intents and purposes, they are considered regular elected members of the House of Representatives,” said election lawyer Emil Marañon III.

Therefore, Roque could only be removed either via expulsion with a two-thirds vote of all House members, or through a ruling by the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET) in an election protest or quo warranto case, Marañon said.

Should Roque be officially unseated as Kabayan’s representative, his replacement is expected to be the party list’s third nominee, Ciriaco S. Calalang.

Who is Calalang

Calalang, 65, is a lawyer and certified public accountant, according to a document he filed with the Comelec. He graduated from the Manuel L Quezon University.

He would have the “same advocacies with Kabayan party list, and [would] also advocate for the rights of children,” said Salo in a text message to Rappler.

Calalang, in a phone interview, reiterated the group’s advocacies: kabuhayan, kabahayan, at kalusugan (livelihood, housing, and health). But he also said that the Kabayan board of officers would still have to formalize Roque’s replacement.

“If the party decides [to name me as replacement], I will be there to answer the call of duty,” he said.

The Supreme Court in 2013 punished Calalang after he notarized a deed of sale where the sellers were already deceased. He was permanently disqualified from being a notary public and suspended him from the practice of law for two years.

But Calalang said, “Tapos na iyon (That’s in the past),” adding that he meets the qualifications to be a congressman.

Meanwhile, Roque had also sought Salo’s expulsion from the House, pointing out that Salo had been indicted by the Department of Justice in connection with the P3.8-billion license plates contract anomaly at the Land Transportation Office (LTO).

In case of vacancy

In the Philippine election system, accredited party-list groups submit a list of at least 5 nominees to the Comelec. (READ: 8 things you need to know about the party list)

Under Republic Act 7941 or the Party-List System Act, a vacancy in the seat or seats won by a party-list group would be filled up by its next nominee as ordered on the list. The replacement nominee will serve for the unexpired term of his or her predecessor.

Kabayan’s nominees for the 2016 polls, in order of listing, are Roque, Salo, Calalang, Paul Hernandez, and its secretary-general Joshua Sebastian.

In Kabayan’s case, however, Roque had already assumed office as a party-list representative. 

Roque’s case is not unique. Marañon cited the case of Ating Koop party list in the 2010 polls. Its first nominee, Representative Isidro Lico, was likewise “expelled” by the group, following infighting in 2011, more than a year after he took his oath of office.

The Supreme Court pointed out in a 2015 ruling that since Lico is already a House member, the HRET would have jurisdiction over Lico’s qualification, not the Comelec. The SC also set aside Lico’s expulsion from the group, which the Comelec had earlier upheld.

For his part, House Majority Leader and Ilocos Norte Representative Rodolfo Fariñas said in a press conference, “There are many schools of thought here. One is, it’s the Comelec that will decide. The other one says it’s the HRET because [Roque is an incumbent congressman]. So we will study it carefully and we will hear both parties.”

Fariñas heads the House committee on rules, where currently both Roque and Salo are members. “In fact, I will ask both of them to leave first the committee,” said Fariñas, so that the body could resolve their dispute properly.

Winning groups can secure a maximum of 3 seats in Congress based on a formula, taking into account the votes each group obtained in the election.

Kabayan received 840,393 votes in the 2016 polls, giving them two seats in the House of Representatives. – Rappler.com