BUHAY'S MIDNIGHT PROCLAMATION
Velarde. Very Large Deceit. Public opinion is strongly against the accreditation of Mikey Arroyo, Angelo Reyes and Mike Velarde as party-list nominees. Mikey's return to Congress as a representative of security guards and tricycle drivers was met with widespread condemnation. Angie Reyes, although favored by the Comelec, wasn't able to get a seat in the House of Representatives after his own party-mates decided to junk him. Perhaps unable to withstand another wave of criticisms, the Comelec chose to proclaim Mike Velarde's party-list in secret.
The petition against Buhay was filed by AM radio broadcaster Rolando Layug. Buhay had already been disqualified by the Comelec in 2001 for allegedly being connected with the El Shaddai and this is prohibited by the Constitution and the Party-List Law, but was reversed by the Supreme Court in 2003 because of lack of evidence linking Buhay to El Shaddai. The photo right here isn't enough evidence? Hence, in 2010, the evidence had become so overwhelming and Rolando Layug as well as other taxpayers submitted to the Comelec the campaign materials of Buhay with the picture of Mike Velarde.
Nonetheless, the Comelec decided in favor of Mike Velarde in a resolution allegedly promulgated on June 15, 2010, but this was not announced to the media as they usually do in highly controversial cases. Neither Layug nor any of his lawyers were sent a notice of promulgation as required by law. The Comelec's resolution denying the petition of the other complainants against Buhay was released on July 28, 2010. Under the Comelec's own rules, the complainants should have been given 5 days to file a motion for reconsideration, but the Comelec still went ahead and proclaimed the Buhay nominees on July 30, 2010. Money talks, Buhay walks.
Do Velarde and the Comelec expect this abuse of power to go unchallenged? Layug has gone to the Supreme Court asking for the nullification of Buhay's proclamation. This has been done before, in the case of Joselito Mendoza vs. Obet Pagdanganan. the Court found Pagdanganan's proclamation as Governor of Bulacan to be void and issued a Status Quo Ante Order which pulled the plug on his attempt to claim Mendoza's throne.
With the Comelec's blatant disregard for its own rules and their very obvious railroading of the complaints against Buhay, the Supreme Court must crack down and order Velarde's nominees to cease and desist from usurping, assuming and performing the functions of party-list representative. Considering the salaries, emoluments, benefits and pork barrel that every congresman is entitled to, the damage it has done to the party-list system and to taxpayers of this country being done by the illegal Buhay congressmen are unthinkable.
(Image from http://en.wikipedia.org/)
