Comelec 2nd division junks bid vs. Aga Muhlach's candidacy

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) Second Division has junked the petition to cancel the certificate of candidacy of actor Aga Muhlach, who is running for Congress in Camarines Sur, for alleged failure to meet the one-year residency requirement. In a 13-page resolution, Commissioners Elias Yusoph and Grace Padaca dismissed for lack of merit the petition of Crispin Imperial and Francisco Perico Dizon, saying Muhlach “has been able to adduce substantial evidence to demonstrate compliance with the one-year residency under the law.” The resolution, dated March 5, 2013, was received by Muhlach’s counsel, Romulo Macalintal, through registered mail on March 14. Macalintal sent reporters scanned copies of pertinent parts of the resolution. The resolution said that the actor’s “ancestry is traced in the Province of Camarines Sur.” It also said that Muhlach was able to establish his actual physical presence in the district as early as April 2011 when he purchased a property in San Jose, Camarines Sur. While the construction of the house is ongoing, he leased a residential property in Rizal street, Brgy San Juan, San Jose, the resolution noted. “His business interests and communications, including his change of registered address to San Jose with the Bureau of Internal Revenue since April 2012 show his intention to remain in the locality. These are indicative of his attention to make San Jose, Camarines Sur as his domicile,” the resolution added. It also stated that the petitioners never presented any evidence showing that Muhlach deliberately intended to commit the alleged false representation to deceive the voters. The resolution said the petitioners’ claims that they have not seen or met Muhlach “are self-serving and subjective in character and that the fact that they had failed to see Muhlach is of no moment since the law does not speak that a person has to be in his home 24 hours a day, seven days a week, in order to fulfill the residency requirement. The Second Division’s resolution will be brought to the Comelec en banc if a motion for reconsideration will be filed. In a press statement, Macalintal said Muhlach was able to withstand all disqualification cases filed against him, “wiping out all legal impediments to his candidacy.” He said Muhlach’s first successful legal battle was when he won before the Comelec First Division the issue of his being a natural-born Filipino citizen; second, when the Court of Appeals reversed the earlier rulings of two lower courts of Camarines Sur and ruled that he is a duly registered voter of Camarines Sur; and third is the recent resolution of the Comelec confirming his having complied with the one-year residency as required by law. — Amita O. Legaspi/KBK, GMA News