Gwen Garcia (INQUIRER FILE PHOTO)
A second disqualification case has been filed before the Commission on Elections (Comelec) Manila against Cebu third district representative and 1Cebu gubernatorial candidate Gwen Garcia.
This time, four lawyers from the Barug Alang sa Kauswagan ug Demokrasya (Bakud) party in the fifth district of Cebu acted as complainants of the petition to have Garcia disqualified from the May 2019 gubernatorial race citing an earlier dismissal order from the Office of the Ombudsman against her.
In a complaint which they filed before the Comelec on Monday, petitioners said that Garcia was “unfit” to be Cebu governor because of her conviction on a grave misconduct case over the backfiling of the Balili property in Naga City.
On the same day, lawyer Edgar Gica also asked Comelec to cancel Garcia’s Certificate of Candidacy (COC) for allegedly making false claims.
In his petition, Gica alleged that Garcia made it appear in her COC that she was not held liable for any case that carries the accessory penalty of perpetual disqualification from holding public office which has already become final and executory.
Cebu Daily News is yet to get Garcia’s statement on the disqualification case filed by Bakud lawyers.
Cebu Provincial Election Supervisor Marco Lionel Castillano said that the process of seeking the disqualification of a candidate in an election would normally take time and may extend beyond the May 2019 midterm election.
He said that unless a final ruling is issued by Comelec, Garcia’s name will still be included on the official ballot in the 2019 election.
Should a disqualification order be issued after Garcia wins in the election, the gubernatorial candidate with the second highest vote will then be declared Cebu governor, Castillano said.