The Commission on Elections (Comelec) Second Division on Thursday dismissed a disqualification case against former Social Welfare Secretary Erwin Tulfo as nominee of the Anti-Crime and Terrorism Community Involvement and Support (ACT-CIS) Party-list.
In its resolution, the Comelec ruled it lacks jurisdiction to act on the petition for disqualification.
Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia said it was the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal that has jurisdiction over the disqualification case as Tulfo already assumed office in Congress when it was filed.
Tulfo, ACT-CIS’ fourth nominee, automatically assumed the vacant seat after the third nominee resigned on Feb 22.
On March 2, the Comelec suspended Tulfo’s proclamation as a nominee of the party-list due to a pending disqualification case filed against him by Atty. Moises Tolentino.
The case included allegations pertaining to “question of citizenship” and “conviction by final judgment of a crime involving moral turpitude.”
Comelec, however, said Tulfo can’t immediately sit as ACT-CIS representative because the petitioner still has five days to file a motion for reconsideration on the recent ruling. If the petitioner does not file a motion, Comelec said the National Board of Canvassers en banc will issue a certificate of proclamation.
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With reports from CNN
Gary P Hernal started college at UP Diliman and received his BA in Economics from San Sebastian College, Manila, and Masters in Information Systems Management from Keller Graduate School of Management of DeVry University in Oak Brook, IL. He has 25 years of copy editing and management experience at Thomson West, a subsidiary of Thomson Reuters.
