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Category: Press Releases
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Published on Thursday, 10 February 2011 11:29
FORMER Akbayan Representative Risa Hontiveros today accused former presidential son and now Ang Galing Pinoy partylist Representative Juan Miguel “Mikey” Arroyo of being an impostor lawmaker during a preliminary conference on the disqualification case filed against Arroyo by Hontiveros’ group.
At a hearing at the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET), Hontiveros presented a preliminary conference brief urging the electoral tribunal to disqualify the young Arroyo from being a member of the 15th House of Representatives.
“There is an impostor congressman at the House of Representatives. A charlatan lawmaker who ascended to his position by circumventing established election rules and regulation,” Hontiveros said.
The former lawmaker asserts that Arroyo did not comply with the requirements prescribed under Commission on Elections Resolution No. 8807 which requires party-list groups to submit documentary evidence showing that their nominees "truly belong" to marginalized sectors they seek to represent in Congress.
“The regulation is set up to guarantee that an individual running for a partylist seat truly represents the interest of a particular group he or she is allegedly championing. With Mikey’s failure to comply with this simple yet important rule, he virtually admitted that he has no track record of adhering to the advocacy of security guards, which is supposed to be represented by the group that nominated him,” Hontiveros explained.
Ang Galing Pinoy, a multi-sectoral group claiming to represent the labor and transport sectors among others has Arroyo as its representative at the House of Representatives.
Resolution 8807 states that any nominee who does not possess all the qualifications of a nominee and who commits any act declared to be grounds for disqualification may be disqualified from continuing as a nominee. The said resolution stated that partylist representatives should have a:
• Track record showing participation in activities for the advancement of the causes of the marginalized sectors
• Proof that he or she truly adheres to the principles and advocacies of the partylist group
• Certification that he or she is a bona fide member of the group at least 90 days before the elections
• Proof that he or she is not only an advocate, but also a member of that marginalized sector.
Hontiveros said this was even confirmed by COMELEC law department director lawyer Ferdinand Rafanan who said that Arroyo and his group did not file any required documentary evidence. She said the failure to comply with the rules and requirements set by the Comelec means failure to act as a party-list representative.
“Mikey does not possess any of these qualifications. In fact, he and his group did not even bother to submit one during the election season. It is so obvious. Thus, what we have here is not only a bogus lawmaker but also an out and out lawbreaker. I hope the HRET will immediately see this and expel Mikey from being a member of the lower house,” Hontiveros said.
Last July 2010, Hontiveros filed a disqualification case against Arroyo before the HRET stating that Arroyo "abused our electoral process and corrupted the spirit of the party-list system.
