This August 3, 2012 file photo shows movie and TV stars Charlene
Gonzalez-Muhlach and Aga Muhlach attending a Liberal Party gathering in Quezon
City. – Photo courtesy of INQUIRER
By JUAN ESCANDOR JR
NAGA CITY: A local court in Camarines Sur has ordered the exclusion of
actor Aga Muhlach and spouse Charlene from the list of new voters of San Jose
town, a court decision obtained by the Philippine Daily Inquirer showed.
In a decision dated Oct 25, Judge Ricky Begino of the San
Jose-Presentacion, Camarines Sur Municipal Circuit Trial Court said the actor,
who is eyeing a seat in Congress to represent the fourth district of Camarines
Sur, failed to comply with the residency required of a registered voter as cited
by the Commission on Elections Resolution No 9149.
In his decision, Begino cited a document “Answer with Omnibus Motion to
Rectify Error and to Grant the Petition” submitted in court by the Election
Registration Board (ERB) of San Jose town composed of chairman Rosendo C Vales
and Palmetto P Valencia and Myrna C Pacamara as members.
The document essentially asked the MCTC to “rectify the error” made by
the ERB when the latter approved the registration of Aga and Charlene on Sept.
28.
According to the ERB, Aga and Charlene “could not be residents of Rizal
Street, San Juan, San Jose, Camarines Sur having failed to meet the requirement
of six months residence in said place prior to their registration on March 19,
2012 and they had filed their voter application on the disallowed period
pursuant to Comelec Resolution No. 9149.”
Francisco Dizon, Edgar Malate, Crispin Imperial, Ferdinand Fernando and
Felix Monasterio were the petitioners referred to by the ERB who had asked the
MCTC to deny Aga and Charlene’s application as duly registered voters of San
Jose town.
Dizon had testified before the MCTC that since 2007, he never noticed
the presence Aga and Charlene in San Jose town.
According to Dizon, he lives in a house adjacent to the house owned by
Cesar Chavez, which the Muhlachs supposedly had leased since August 2011.
The testimony of Dizon was corroborated by other petitioners and dozens
of witnesses who said the Muhlachs have not been residents of San Jose.
Lawyer Romulo Macalintal, counsel of Aga and Charlene, said the MCTC’s
decision was “highly questionable” and he would appeal to the Regional Trail
Court (RTC) in San Jose.
“I don’t know how a voter like
Aga Muhlach could be excluded from the list just because he registered earlier
than May 12, 2012,” said Macalintal.
Macalintal said the Comelec resolution was only “directory” because the
Comelec has been urging voters to register early so Aga and Charlene registered
early, “something which the Comelec had accepted and eventually included them
in the voters list”.
The ERB “cannot undo what they have done … and Aga and Charlene are
denied of their right to be heard when the ERB made the reversed decision
submitted to the MCTC through an omnibus motion", said Macalintal.
Macalintal added the filing of the petition to exclude Aga and Charlene
from the list of voters at MCTC was “fatally defective” because it did not
contain the certification of non-forum shopping that he said is required in all
petitions filed. - Inquirer
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