The Commission on Elections Election Registration Board (Comelec-ERB) in Taguig City junked the application of former Taguig Mayor Lino Cayetano and his wife, Fille Cayetano, to transfer their voter registration records to the congressional district of Taguig-Pateros (District 1) over their failure to comply with the residency requirements.
In a 24-page decision, the ERB said the Cayetano couple applied for the transfer last month, stating they have been living at Pacific Residences in Barangay Ususan for at least two years and five months.
However, the Board noticed discrepancies in their documentary requirements including their submitted passports. Fille indicated her passport was issued in November 2018 while Lino’s was issued in October 2021.
“Both documents were issued well in advance of their purported transfer to Pacific Residence in 2022. As a result, the passports fail to substantiate their assertion of their current address. At best, the passports serve to establish their identity rather than their residential address,” the ERB said.
Lino, who was also a former congressman, has filed his Certificate of Candidacy to run for a seat in the House of Representatives in District 1.
GMA News Online has asked the Comelec about the impact of the ruling on Cayetano’s congressional bid.
Lino is the brother of Senators Alan Peter and Pia Cayetano. Pia and Lani are likewise seeking reelection. Reports have said that Lani is backing the reelection of incumbent Taguig District 1 Representative Ricardo “Ading” Cruz instead of Lino.
Meanwhile, the ERB also noted the applicants did not submit any additional identification documents that indicate personal details and addresses to support their application.
“The Board maintains that an individual residing in a particular locality for a period exceeding two years should be capable of procuring and furnishing an alternative identification document to substantiate their address,” it added.
The ERB also said the utility bill and security logbook the Cayetano couple submitted covered only October 2024 and therefore “inadequate to prove the applicants’ residency at their claimed address for the past two years.”
“It is essential to present previous records and other billings, especially those indicating actual utility usage, to convincingly demonstrate the applicants’ physical stay in Pacific Residence”.
The Board declared Cayetano’s contract of lease and sub-lease to Pacific Residence cannot verify their residence in the area as the main lease, which started on April 2021, expires after a year. The sub-lease extended to five more years but the original contract prohibits sub-leasing without the approval of the lessor.
The authorization of the lessor was not provided. Payments made also indicated they were paying to the lessor.
Meanwhile, local officials of Barangay Ususan said there is no record of Lino’s residence in the area while a barangay official of Fort Bonifacio attested the applicants were residents of his locality.
“Given the applicants’ public prominence, it is highly unlikely that the Punong Barangays of both Barangays Ususan and Fort Bonifacio are unaware of the fact that the applicants have resided in Pacific Residence for over two years. If this were the case, it would be surprising, given their public standing,” the ERB said.
The ERB questioned the wrong address indicated in the application form of the applicants. Instead of Almond Street, the Cayetanos used Accord Street.
“The Board contends that if the Applicants had truly resided at Pacific Residences for over two years, they would have no difficulty distinguishing between Almond Street and Accord Street. Given their long-term familiarity with the area, it is improbable they would struggle to provide their address accurately. Their inability to do so raises doubts about their claims of residency,” it said.
Further, the ERB said the applicants “failed to persuade the Board that their domicile of choice for the past two years has been in Barangay Ususan.”
Residence, according to the ERB, prescribes the qualifications for suffrage and for elective office, is doctrinally settled to mean domicile, importing not only an intention to reside in a fixed place but also personal presence in that coupled with conduct indicative of such intention inferable from a person’s acts, activities, and utterances.
“What was evident to the Board was that the actions, behaviors, and statements of the Applicants indicated their intention to remain in their residence at Barangay Fort Bonifacio,” the Board added.
This was substantiated by the applicants’ voting in Barangay Fort Bonifacio in the recent Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE). They also have an ongoing lease of a high-end condominium unit in Bonifacio Global City.
“It is crucial to emphasize that an individual can hold only one residence or domicile at any given time. For the Applicants, this clearly appears to be Barangay Fort Bonifacio,” the ERB added.
Meanwhile, the ERB clarified the applicants may still cast their votes for the 2025 national elections. —LDF, GMA Integrated News
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