MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections said on Wednesday that it may file an election offense case against former lawmaker Prospero Pichay Jr. after he allegedly misrepresented himself when he filed for a certificate of candidacy (COC) in the 2022 elections.
In a resolution on Tuesday, the Comelec said it would investigate Pichay over his alleged "commission of material representation" when he filed his COC to run for representative of the first district of Surigao del Sur despite being found guilty of grave misconduct by the Office of the Ombudsman in 2011.
The statement also said that the Comelec en banc has ruled that Pichay's COC should be canceled, reversing the ruling of its first division. This renders the votes he garnered in 2022 as stray.
“The alleged false misrepresentation made by Prospero A. Pichay, Jr. in his COC was his act of deliberately answering 'No' to the question 'Have you ever been found liable for an offense which carries with it the accessory penalty of perpetual disqualification to hold public office, which has become final and executory?” the poll body said.
The Comelec's ruling is based on the petition filed by Rep. Romeo Momoo (Surigao del Sur, 1st District), who won the elections for that district, which sought to cancel Pichay's COC due to "false misrepresentations... by stating that he is eligible to run for public office even after being found guilty of grave misconduct by the Ombudsman," the resolution read.
This carries an accessory penalty of disqualification to hold any public office, the poll body said.
Pichay was found guilty by the Office of the Ombudsman in 2011 in connection to a P780-million deal that he greenlighted as then-chair of the Local Water Utilities Administration.
The Supreme Court upheld the perpetual disqualification ruling of the Office of the Ombudsman in 2021, which became executory in 2022.