CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY -- Top Commission on Elections (Comelec) officials have expressed concern over a disqualification order against a mayoral candidate allegedly issued by the poll body which was found out to be fake.
Comelec Commissioner Luie Tito Guia said his colleagues were alarmed when they have learned that a document began circulating on social media on Friday night.
Answering queries from Cagayan de Oro-based reporters, Guia denied the Commission issued such an order.
"I also told my fellow commissioners already and they are disturbed that our signatures can be copied," the Comelec official said in an interview on Saturday morning.
The alleged order to disqualify city mayor Oscar Moreno, who's seeking reelection, came out two days before the local and national elections on Monday, May 13.
Guia earlier dismissed the document as hoax.
"That is fake. It did not come from us. No resolution on the case was issued," Guia said in a text message.
The three-page order states that the poll body issued the decision to disqualify Moreno on May 1, 2019, a non-working holiday.
The order was posted on the DDS News-CDO Facebook page at 6:56 p.m. Friday, with 404 shares as of Saturday morning.
The document stated that the disqualification case was filed by former Barangay Taglimao chairman William Guialani against Moreno, docketed as SPA No. 19-005 (DC), for disqualification.
Guialani based his petition on the number of Moreno's graft cases, more than a hundred of them, some of which have been decided on by the Ombudsman, but the mayor was able to secure temporary restraining orders and writ of preliminary injunction.
Some of the cases have also been dismissed by the Court of Appeals and the Sandiganbayan.
"In this case, petitioner had been punished with dismissal from service with all its accessory penalties, including perpetual disqualification from holding public office," reads a portion of the supposed order.
"Therefore, the Honorable Commission is duty-bound to disqualify herein Respondent [Moreno] from being a candidate for the May 13, 2019 Elections," it added.
The order was allegedly signed by Guia as the presiding commissioner, with commissioners Socorro Inting and Antonio Kho Jr. as co-signatories.
In an interview, Guia said he didn't remember signing anything pertaining to the disqualification.
In a hastily called conference Friday evening, Moreno's legal counsel Dale Bryan Mordeno said they did not receive any order from the Comelec.
Mordeno noted that the order that circulated on social media was not an official Comelec document as the wrong font was used in the text.
A news report said the city Comelec office has also not received a copy of the alleged order. (PNA)
Comelec Commissioner Luie Tito Guia said his colleagues were alarmed when they have learned that a document began circulating on social media on Friday night.
Answering queries from Cagayan de Oro-based reporters, Guia denied the Commission issued such an order.
"I also told my fellow commissioners already and they are disturbed that our signatures can be copied," the Comelec official said in an interview on Saturday morning.
The alleged order to disqualify city mayor Oscar Moreno, who's seeking reelection, came out two days before the local and national elections on Monday, May 13.
Guia earlier dismissed the document as hoax.
"That is fake. It did not come from us. No resolution on the case was issued," Guia said in a text message.
The three-page order states that the poll body issued the decision to disqualify Moreno on May 1, 2019, a non-working holiday.
The order was posted on the DDS News-CDO Facebook page at 6:56 p.m. Friday, with 404 shares as of Saturday morning.
The document stated that the disqualification case was filed by former Barangay Taglimao chairman William Guialani against Moreno, docketed as SPA No. 19-005 (DC), for disqualification.
Guialani based his petition on the number of Moreno's graft cases, more than a hundred of them, some of which have been decided on by the Ombudsman, but the mayor was able to secure temporary restraining orders and writ of preliminary injunction.
Some of the cases have also been dismissed by the Court of Appeals and the Sandiganbayan.
"In this case, petitioner had been punished with dismissal from service with all its accessory penalties, including perpetual disqualification from holding public office," reads a portion of the supposed order.
"Therefore, the Honorable Commission is duty-bound to disqualify herein Respondent [Moreno] from being a candidate for the May 13, 2019 Elections," it added.
The order was allegedly signed by Guia as the presiding commissioner, with commissioners Socorro Inting and Antonio Kho Jr. as co-signatories.
In an interview, Guia said he didn't remember signing anything pertaining to the disqualification.
In a hastily called conference Friday evening, Moreno's legal counsel Dale Bryan Mordeno said they did not receive any order from the Comelec.
Mordeno noted that the order that circulated on social media was not an official Comelec document as the wrong font was used in the text.
A news report said the city Comelec office has also not received a copy of the alleged order. (PNA)
