Magnolia Rosa C.
Antonino-Nadres is set to appear before the Comelec’s First Division to answer
the petition seeking to disqualify her in the congressional race in southern
Nueva Ecija.
Earlier, Clerk
of Commission Ma. Josefina dela Cruz, in a summons with notice of conference
directed Antonino-Nadres to appear in the Wednesday conference, effectively
giving due course to the petition.
Dela
Cruz warned Antonino-Nadres that failure to appear before the scheduled
conference shall be considered as a waiver and render the petition deemed
submitted for resolution.
A
separate notice of conference has been sent to lawyer Tyrone Contado, counsel
for petitioners Pedro Fajardo and Desita Garcia.
Both
parties have been given 10 days after the date of conference within which to
file their respective memorandum.
Antonino-Nadres,
of San Francisco St. ,
Barangay Langla, Jaen, Nueva Ecija, is the daughter of outgoing three-term
fourth district Rep. Rodolfo Antonino.
More
popularly known as Megan, Antonino-Nadres is seeking to succeed her father in
the district which covers Gapan City and the southern Nueva Ecija towns of
Cabiao, Gen. Tinio, Jaen, Penaranda, San Isidro, San Leonardo and San Antonio .
She is running under
the National Unity Party founded by the elder Antonino against two-time San
Leonardo Mayor Froilan Nagano, comebacking former two-term Rep. Julita
Lorenzo-Villareal and Villareal’s sister-in-law, former San Isidro mayor and
Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP) executive director Sonia
Lorenzo.
The
five-page petition filed by Fajardo and Desita Garcia said respondent
Antonino-Nadres is disqualified to run for Congress in the fourth district
based on Article 6 of the 1987 Constitution which provides that no person shall
be a member of the House of Representatives unless he is a natural-born citizen
of the Philippines.
The
petition added that pursuant to Section 2, Article 4 of the same Constitution,
it is stipulated that natural-born citizens are those who are citizens of the
Philippines from birth without having to perform any act to acquire or perfect
their Filipino citizenship.
Antonino-Nadres’
camp has dismissed the petition as politically motivated and is allegedly meant
to sow confusion among the people.
But
Nagano
dismissed Antonino-Nadres’ claims, saying the fact that the petition was given
due course by the Comelec means there must be some merit on the said petition.
He said the conference affords Antonino-Nadres the chance to deny the claims
contained in the petition.
“The conference
is the proper forum for Antonino-Nadres to deny the allegations that she is a US citizen.
There, she is given her day in court,” he said.
The
petitioners cited some grounds on why Antonino-Nadres should be disqualified
among which are that she is a US
citizen, she is not registered with the National Statistics Office and she
holds an American passport.
It
cited that in her certificate of candidacy filed on October 2,2012, Antonino-Nadres
wrote that she was born in San Mateo County , California which, pursuant to the doctrine of “jus soli” is
a citizen of the US .
NSO
administrator and civil registrar general Carmelita Ericta, in a certification
issued last February 19 said Antonino-Nadres is not registered with the NSO. Antonino-Nadres
only registered as a voter in Jaen
in 2006.
The petitioners
also claimed the respondent is a holder of an American passport which she had
consistently used in entering and leaving the Philippines as gleaned from a certification
issued last February 22 by the Bureau of Immigration confirming that she used
the foreign passport in her numerous travels since 1996.
They added that being a citizen of the United States of America or at least having dual
allegiance, Antonino-Nadres is disqualified to run for the position of Member
of the House of Representatives which requires a natural born citizen of the Philippines . (Manny Galvez)
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