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Published on 04 April 2013
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In a ruling dated March 27, the Comelec First Division held that Reyes is a US citizen and is therefore disqualified from running for a seat in the House of Representatives in the May 13 elections.
The case stemmed from a petition filed by Joseph Tan to deny due course to or cancel Reyes’ certificate of candidacy on the basis of several false representations made by Reyes in her certificate of candidacy.
The petition stated that Reyes, daughter of Marinduque Governor Carmencita Reyes and sister of Toll Regulatory Board Executive Director Edmundo Reyes, Jr., intentionally withheld the fact that she is single, a natural-born Filipino citizen, and a resident of Boac, Marinduque, but who carries a US passport.
Reyes was supposed to face Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco, who defeated her brother Edmundo during the May 2010 polls.
In its decision, the poll body pointed out that Reyes is a US citizen and relied on the certificate issued by the Bureau of Immigration detailing Reyes’ use of a US passport since 2005.
“Unless and until she can establish that she had availed of the privileges of RA 9225 by becoming a dual Filipino-American citizen, and thereafter, made a valid sworn renunciation of her American citizenship, she remains to be an American citizen and is, therefore, ineligible to run for and hold any elective public office in the Philippines,” the Comelec ruling said.
The poll body further stated that “the requirement of Philippine citizenship is indispensable for a person seeking for an elective public office…It is a requisite which should be dealt with more scrutiny, if only to ensure that no person owing allegiance to other nation is actually permitted to govern our people.”
Sources from the Comelec say that when the finality of the ruling is rendered, all votes for Reyes will be deemed as stray votes or will not be counted by the PCOS machines.
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