PETITION. Former General Santos City Vice Mayor Shirlyn Banas-Nograles. A group of "concerned residents" filed a petition at the city election office on Monday (Sept. 23, 2019), urging the Commission on Elections to challenge the Supreme Court directive to proclaim Banas-Nograles as representative of the first district. (PNA GenSan file photo)
GENERAL SANTOS CITY -- A group of residents here asked the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to contest a Supreme Court (SC) decision that voided the suspension of the elections in the first district of South Cotabato and this city last May.
Calling themselves "concerned residents" of the city, the group filed a petition at the city election office here on Monday, urging the Comelec en banc to also challenge the SC directive to proclaim former city vice mayor Shirlyn Banas-Nograles as representative of the first district.
The SC, in a unanimous ruling on September 10, declared as null and void Comelec Resolution 10524 that suspended the elections in the district due to its reconfiguration into two legislative districts.
The poll suspension came a month after President Rodrigo R. Duterte signed Republic Act (RA) 11243, which reapportioned the first district of South Cotabato and created a separate legislative district for the city.
Resolution 10524 instead scheduled the conduct of special elections for the two districts six months after the May 13 elections, eventually setting it on October 26.
Vivian Munez, one of the signatories of the petition, said Tuesday they wanted the poll body to stand by its proceedings and push through with the upcoming special elections for the reconfigured districts.
Munez was referring to the city's lone district, which was created as the third district of South Cotabato, and the first district towns of Polomolok, Tupi, and Tampakan.
She said they were not able to cast their votes for the representative of the first district last May due to the Comelec's decision to suspend the polls in the area.
"Many of us are waiting and already preparing for the special elections. And now the SC says there is already a winner? Comelec should proceed with the elections," she told reporters.
She said they were continually gathering signatures to shore up their petition, which was received by Maybelle Alonto, Election Assistant II at the city election office.
Alonto said they would immediately relay the petition to the Comelec central office for proper action.
Jose Santos, a resident of Barangay Conel and also a signatory of the petition, said the Comelec should consider that many voters would be disenfranchised if the special polls are scrapped.
"We just want to exercise our right to vote and choose a leader who will represent us in the House of Representatives," Santos said.
Munez and Santos said the petition was their own initiative and was not supported or influenced by any politician.
As of Tuesday, the Comelec en banc has not yet issued any directive or resolution in connection with the SC ruling, which directed the poll body to convene a special provincial board of canvassers to proclaim Nograles as the winning candidate.
Nograles said they already anticipated such move and accused the camp of former first district representative Pedro Acharon Jr. as behind it.
"I expected that they will do everything to counter (the SC decision). They are desperate to the point of manipulating the situation and unfortunately, they did not succeed because of the ruling," she told reporters.
Acharon, who is seeking the city's lone district post in the special elections, was not immediately available for comment but he earlier declared that he would abide by the SC decision and already suspended his campaign.
The former solon, who authored the reapportionment law, ended his third straight term last June and was gunning for an unprecedented fourth term in the House of Representatives. (PNA)
