Unbelievable – Ampatuan still allowed to run for Office

An opposition lawmaker is decrying a statement from the Commission on Elections (Comelec) that the prime suspect in the executions of 57 people in Maguindanao, Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr., is qualified to seek elective office in the May polls. Ampatuan will be charged with seven counts of murder on Tuesday in the deaths of 24 journalists and several members of the family of his rival.

In a statement on Monday, Sen. Kiko Pangilinan of the Liberal Party said the comment by Election Commissioner Lucenito Tagle “sends a very disturbing signal to would-be election violators that the Comelec chooses to be inutile rather than proactive.” “Section 68 of the Omnibus Election Code provides that the Comelec can disqualify candidates on grounds of acts of terrorism,” Pangilinan added. “The massacre was meant to prevent the Ampatuans’ political opponents from filing their Certificate of Candidacy.

Clearly, the matter is election-related and, under the foregoing provision of law, the Comelec has a strong case against the Ampatuans.” The senator also cited a 2001 resolution from the Commission that allowed officials to hold disqualification proceedings against candidates accused of smuggling firearms. “Failure on the part of the Comelec officials to pursue election-related offenses in the Maguindnao Massacre is a ground for impeachment,” he warned. Tagle had said that Ampatuan is qualified to run for office since he has not been convicted of any charges. His comment came three weeks after the Comelec prohibited a gay rights group from joining the elections as a sectoral organization for “moral” grounds.

The ruling on the LGBT group, which cites the Bible and the Koran and says Ang Ladlad “advocate[s] immoral doctrines,” has been widely panned by officials, activists and pundits. Despite the firestorm, a commissioner, Nicodemo Ferrer, had joked that the group did not need accreditation because it is “overrepresented” by many gays and lesbians in Congress. Ampatuan was seeking to succeed his father as governor in next year’s elections before arrest last week. His family did not file any election papers for him or any member of his family on Monday, the last day of submitting certificates of candidacy.

published @ All Headline News