USWAG Ilonggo partylist first nominee James “Jojo” Ang Jr. is a bona fide registered voter in Pavia town, Iloilo, contrary to a false claim about his deactivated voter status made by former Iloilo Vice Governor Oscar “Richard” Garin Jr.
Garin posted yesterday on Facebook an edited photo showing Ang’s voter status was deactivated upon searching his name in the Commission on Elections’ (Comelec) precinct finder website. But, Garin had wrongly placed Iloilo City as Ang’s city or municipality.
Ang also cast his vote today, according to a Facebook status update by USWAG Ilonggo partylist at 11:24 a.m today. The status added pictures of Ang filling out the ballot and showing his index finger marked with indelible ink.
In a May 8 statement, the partylist also said Ang is a registered voter and has not been disqualified from the elections. They said:
Jojo Ang is a bona fide registered voter in Pavia, Iloilo and qualified as 1st nominee of USWAG ILONGGO PARTYLIST as per COMELEC guidelines. No COMELEC Resolution was issued, released or promulgated as to the disqualification of Uswag Ilonggo Partylist and its nominees, including Jojo Ang.
According to Sec. 9 of Republic Act 7941 or the Party-List System Act, a partylist nominee should be a registered voter, among other qualifications such as being a natural born Filipino citizen and a resident of the Philippines for a period of not less than one (1) year immediately preceding the day of the election.
A quick look at the post’s edit history showed that the post Garin initially wrote the caption “DISQUALIFIED?” at 5:50 a.m yesterday and later changed it to “ANO MAN? GIN BLIND SIYA SANG MGA UPOD NIYA SA USWAG?” by 11:28 a.m.
The Facebook post has garnered 132 reactions, 44 shares and 16 comments. (JC)