THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Tuesday, January 22, directed Cagayan de Oro City Mayor Oscar Moreno to answer the petition for disqualification filed by former Taglimao village chief William Guialani.
The poll body directed Moreno to answer within five days from receipt of the petition.
The Comelec second division also notified Moreno of the preliminary conference on February 7 at the Comelec session hall in Intramuros, Manila.
Guialani filed the petition for disqualification against Moreno on January 15.
Guialani wants Moreno disqualified from seeking his third and final term as city mayor based on the April 10, 2017 decision of the Office of the Ombudsman dismissing Moreno from service with perpetual disqualification from holding public office.
In a 13-page petition, Guialani wants the Comelec to delete the name of Moreno from the official list of candidates for the position of mayor in the city of Cagayan de Oro for the May 2019 elections.
"Considering that the penalty of perpetual disqualification imposed upon respondent Oscar Moreno by the ombudsman is immediately enforceable from the time the decision meeting said penalty rendered and the said decision has never been restrained nor overturned by any competent court, the respondent is thus disqualified to run for any elective office,"Guialani argued.
"In the event that this petition is not decided before election day, direct the responsible election officials of Cagayan de Oro, Misamis Oriental to exclude from the election count the votes cast for respondent," the petition said.
Cagayan de Oro City Mayor Oscar Moreno said the new case filed by former Taglimao village chief William Guialani was just a rehash of an identical case he also filed before the Comele right after the 2016 elections, but the results still favored the mayor's reelection.
"This new case is certainly headed to the same destination as the 2016 case, the waste basket. Another act of desperation, Guialani and his masters are not stopping at nothing to prevent us from being chosen by the people of CDO to lead them to a better tomorrow," Moreno said.
Moreno's close ally and city administrator Teddy Sabuga-a said Moreno's camp has yet to receive the copy of the petition but he said the petition will be answered as part of the legal process.
"Kabalo naman ta anang Guialani nga gigamit raman na siya sa politika pero walay problema kay tubagon gihapon kana nga petition kay part mana sa legal process (We all know that Guialani was just used in the politics but no problem because we will answer the petition for it is part of the legal process)," Sabuga-a said.
