SC unseats Jalosjos as Zamboanga del Norte lawmaker  

MANILA, Philippines — The first district of Zamboanga del Norte has a new representative.

During en banc deliberations on Tuesday, the Supreme Court (SC) ordered the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to proclaim Roberto Uy Jr. as congressman as it nullified the victory of Romeo Jalosjos Jr.

The SC said the Comelec committed “grave abuse of discretion” when it proclaimed Jalosjos as first district representative.

Jalosjos was proclaimed winner after the Comelec credited to him the votes garnered by his rival Federico Jalosjos, who was declared a nuisance candidate.

Uy got 69,591 votes while Jalosjos garnered 69,109 votes. F. Jalosjos got 5,424 votes.

F. Jalosjos and Uy challenged the Comelec decision before the SC, saying the suspension of Uy’s proclamation and awarding of votes to Jalosjos constituted grave abuse of discretion.

In its ruling, the high tribunal said the “Comelec’s power to suspend the proclamation of a winning candidate is not available in proceedings to declare one a nuisance candidate.”

It said the poll body ”gravely abused its discretion” when it suspended Uy’s proclamation.

“Public policy dictates that candidates receiving the highest votes should be proclaimed without unnecessary delay,” it said.

On the Comelec's declaration of F. Jalosjos as a nuisance candidate, the SC said the Comelec solely based its ruling on the alleged erroneous use of a nickname without considering his membership in the political party, the importance of a certificate of candidacy, preceding campaign period as well as dissimilarities in the names appearing on the ballots.

The high court said the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET) has no jurisdiction over the case.

“In the case of Jalosjos, he did not take an oath of office before the Speaker of the House in open session, which bars him from performing his functions. Neither has Jalosjos assumed office... The requisites that vest HRET jurisdiction are not present,” the SC said.

The Comelec, for its part, said it would abide by the SC ruling.

Comelec Chairman George Garcia said the poll body would resolve all nuisance cases before printing the ballots in automated polls or prior to manual elections to avoid similar incidents. –  Mayen Jaymalin