In
all of our political life, we have been taught to uphold the principle of the
equity of the incumbent be it under the election laws or as part of the party
rules.
For
instance, in the appreciation of ballots, if there are two or more candidates
having the same surname and the voter writes only the surname in the space of
the ballot provided for the elective position they are aspiring, the vote will
be counted in favor of the incumbent if one of the candidates is.
This
is what is called as the doctrine of the equity of the incumbent under our election
laws.
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Under
political party rules, once a party member seeks re-election for the same position,
that member is given the automatic nomination even if another party member, who
is not the incumbent, also aspires for the position.
However,
only one party member is aspiring for a position not being held by another party
member, that party member could get the nomination by mere consensus within the
party member.
But
if there are two or more party members who aspire for the same single position
or that the aspirants outnumber the elective position available and none of them
is an incumbent, it would be resolve by a party convention.
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A
case in point, as we already amplified in previous issues, is the congressional
post in the third district which will be vacated by Rep. Eladio Jala.
As
far as the Lakas-CMD is concerned, if there are two or more aspirants to run for
congressman in the third district coming from the same political party, it shall
be resolved by a party convention among the party leaders within the third district.
For
the first and second districts, there will be no Lakas party convention as Rep.
Edgar Chatto and Rep. Roberto Cajes, both Lakas members, are both seeking re-elections.
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This
maybe self-serving but we could no comprehend why in the city, this principle
of the equity of the incumbent seemed so elusive for purposes of the forthcoming
May 14 elections.
The
screaming headlines of the Philippine Daily Inquirer told it all that the national
leadership of Lakas-CMD. Speaker Jose de Venecia, following a luncheon meeting
with Lakas leaders in Malacanang last Monday, said that the President had agreed;
to give priority support to incumbents seeking re-election in the May elections.
In
fact, de Venecia stressed that by upholding the equity of the incumbent rule,
the President would resolve 75% of all the positions up for grabs in the elections.
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In
the city level, Lakas-CMD has no incumbent as far as the position of city mayor
is concerned. The incumbent city mayor, Atty. Dan Neri Lim, is not a Lakas-CMD
member.
DOTC
Assistant Secretary Joe Torralba, city Lakas-CMD chairman, has publicly announced
his interest to make a political comeback at the city hall. So far, no other aspirant
from Lakas-CMD has signified an intention to run for city mayor except for Torralba.
By a mere party consensus, Torralba could get the party nomination without resorting
to a convention.
City
Vice-Mayor Nuevas Tirol-Montes and five incumbent city councilors, all Lakas-CMD
members, have signified their intention of seeking for re-election. They, therefore,
enjoy the equity of the incumbent rule and shall earn the party nomination automatically.
The remaining five slots for city councilors are considered open. If there are
more than five aspirants within the party who are interested to run for city councilor,
there would be a party convention ONLY for the remaining five slots. This is the
party rule which appears to be elusive in the city Lakas-CMD.
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