COMELEC OFFICE. The Commission on Elections (Comelec) in Antique says former Bugasong Mayor John Lloyd Pacete, even if convicted for gun ban violation, can still run in May 13 polls as his conviction has no final decision yet. Should Pacete win in the May 13 election, the Comelec can proclaim him. (PNA Photo by Annabel Petinglay)
SAN JOSE DE BUENAVISTA, Antique -- The former mayor of Bugasong, Antique, convicted for gun ban violation, can still run for re-election on May 13, according to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) here.
Antique Comelec acting provincial election supervisor Atty. Wil S. Arceño, in an interview Friday, said former mayor John Lloyd Pacete can still run because his conviction has no final decision yet.
Pacete was convicted by the Branch 64 of the Regional Trial Court (RTC), 6th Judicial Region here but it is currently on appeal before the Court of Appeals (CA).
He said that although Pacete’s conviction can still be appealed with the higher court, but then it has no probation.
“Pacete will really have to serve his conviction,” he said.
He said that should Pacete win in the May 13 election, the Comelec can proclaim him. But whether he could really sit or not as mayor of Bugasong is up to the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) to resolve.
“The decision whether Pacete would be installed as re-electionist mayor would be up to the DILG,” Arceño said.
Branch 64 Presiding Judge Mario G. Andres, Jr. last February 27 penned a decision for the conviction of Pacete for possessing a .45-caliber pistol during the election period on April 16, 2016.
Pacete through his lawyer, Atty. Charmaine Joy Filarmeo, filed a motion for reconsideration on March 14, 2019 at the RTC but was denied after a hearing last April 16.
The judge also cancelled the cash bond posted earlier by the accused for his temporary liberty in the amount of PHP12,000 as recommended by the Provincial Prosecutor and directed the voluntary surrender of Pacete to the RTC.
Meanwhile, newly-assumed Bugasong Mayor Bernard Pesayco has called for unity and sobriety among the employees and residents of the town after the position was left vacant when Pacete voluntarily surrendered to the RTC last April 27.
Pacete is now in the custody of the BJMP Antique District Jail at Binirayan Hills in this capital town where he will serve a minimum of one year to a maximum of two years imprisonment.
“I called for unity and sobriety among the employees,” Pesayco said in an interview last April 30.
He said that being the vice mayor of Bugasong, he assumed as mayor last April 30 during the flag-raising ceremony of the employees.
“I am in fact sympathetic with Mayor Pacete although we are political opponents in the coming May 13 election,” he said.
Pacete is now running for mayor against Pesayco in the May 13 polls. (PNA)
