SC junks Pamatong quo warranto plea vs. Duterte

The Supreme Court has denied the petition for quo warranto filed by former nuisance presidential candidate Elly Pamatong against President Rodrigo Duterte.

In a seven-page minute resolution, the Court En Banc said Pamatong’s cause of action already prescribed on June 30, 2017, one year from where Pamatong’s right to hold office, “if at all,” arose on June 30, 2016 when Duterte was inaugurated as the 16th President of the Republic of the Philippines.

Pamatong filed his petition on June 6, 2018 or only a few days short of two years since Duterte’s inauguration.

“[P]etitioner’s cause of action, if any, had already lapsed and may no longer be revived,” said the SC.

The high tribunal also held that Pamatong lacked the legal standing to bring an action for quo warranto.

The SC said under the Rules of Court, only the government may file a quo warranto suit unless an individual has an uncontroverted claim to the position being contested.

The SC said Pamatong must have been a candidate who ran for president against Duterte during the 2016 national elections and lost to the latter for him to have a right to file a quo warranto plea.

The court noted that though Pamatong filed a Certificate of Candidacy (COC) for the presidential elections in the 2016, it was disapproved by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) after he was deemed to be a nuisance candidate.

His disqualification was affirmed by the Court with finality on January 12, 2016.

In his petition, Pamatong told the high court that Duterte lacked the constitutional authority to "represent the government in any capacity" because his COC was filed late and was "never approved" by the Comelec en banc.

Pamatong, who earned notoriety for scattering spikes or caltrops on Roxas Boulevard in 2004, also admitted to partial responsibility for a set of explosives found at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in 2014.

He was suspended from practicing law by the SC on June 2016 for "slanderous" language against a judge he had accused of corruption.

In his petition, Pamatong claimed he took an oath to assume the presidency on the same day Duterte took his: June 30, 2016. — MDM, GMA News