ELECTION lawyer Romulo Macalintal on Thursday said the plan of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) to ask the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to disqualify politicians linked to illegal-drug activities and corruption in the coming 2019 midterm polls is “unconstitutional.”
Macalintal reminded the DILG that under the Omnibus Election Code and the Local Government Code, only candidates convicted of a crime with finality are disqualified from seeking an elective post.
The Comelec, through its spokesman, however, said the poll body could not bar candidates with suspected illegal-drugs involvement from running in the 2019 polls “for now.”
Comelec Spokesman James B. Jimenez said they are still waiting from the official recommendation of the DILG before they could decide on disqualifying the said candidates.
“No formal communication on these concerns, much less any actionable details or requests, have been made to the Comelec,” Jimenez said in a news statement.
“Prudence dictates that such formal communication be made before the Comelec comments on the matter any further,” he added.
Macalintal maintained that “to disqualify based on the said list will violate the constitutional right of a person to presumption of innocence and right to due process or opportunity to be heard in any case—be it criminal or administrative.”
He issued the statement in response to DILG Officer in Charge Secretary Eduardo M. Año’s pronouncement that his department will submit a formal recommendation to the Comelec to disqualify those on the government’s drug list and alleged corrupt individuals from seeking an elective post.
“We will submit our recommendations. If the Comelec will approve it, they will be disqualified,” Año was quoted as saying.
He said the DILG will use the existing “narco list” and the corruption reports against local officials through hot line 8888 and the presidential complaint desk in coming out with the recommendation.
Macalintal, likewise, said there were several candidates who were in prison and, yet, they were allowed to run and serve while in prison.
“In a word, the final judgment is an indispensable requisite to disqualify any candidate running for an elective office,” the election lawyer said.
Macalintal added that the Comelec should stay focused on ensuring the conduct of a peaceful and honest election and not be distracted by such a baseless request.
“It will be a waste of time for the DILG to ask the Comelec to disqualify candidates in the 2019 elections based merely on an alleged list of persons allegedly involved in illegal drugs,” he added.
The DILG disclosed that since July 2016, around 300 local officials were either suspended or dismissed due to corruption allegations.
On the other hand, the government’s narco list identified at least 93 local officials holding posts in the Sangguniang Bayan up to vice gubernatorial posts.