Comelec disqualifies Romualdez’s opponent

National

THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) has disqualified a political aspirant from challenging House Speaker Martin Romualdez in the May elections.

Romilda Bacale, who intended to run for representative of the first district of Leyte, was ruled ineligible after the Comelec determined she was not a registered voter in Tacloban.

Bacale, who recently transferred from Sampaloc, Manila, was informed that the decision is final and executory.

Bacale, a former regional coordinator of Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino under former President Joseph Estrada, and ex-head of the Manila Action Center of the Department of Social Welfare and Development, had previously stated that residents of Leyte encouraged her to run.

However, her lack of voter registration in the district she intended to represent led to her disqualification.

In a separate development, the Comelec upheld the validity of the Certificate of Candidacy (COC) filed by Mountain Province Governor Bonifacio Lacwasan Jr., dismissing a petition seeking to cancel it.

The petition, filed by Johnny Lausan, argued that Lacwasan violated term limits, claiming he had already served three terms as governor.

Lacwasan, however, clarified that he was appointed acting governor in 2016 following the death of the sitting governor and then won two consecutive terms as an elected governor in 2019 and 2022.

The Comelec ruled that Lacwasan was not subject to the three-term limit, as his time as acting governor did not count toward the term limit.

The decision concluded that Lacwasan's candidacy for the upcoming election is valid.(CMM)