Philippine election commission disqualifies Porac mayor over alleged gaming links
Jaime Capil had been re-elected in the May 12 elections.
The Philippines.- The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has disqualified Jaime Capil, the suspended mayor of Porac, Pampanga, from running for office again. It made the ruling on the grounds that the Office of the Ombudsman had dismissed Capil from his position for not stopping the operations of Lucky South 99, an illegal offshore gaming operator.
In a resolution dated April 3, the Office of the Ombudsman found Capil guilty of gross neglect of duty and dismissed him from service, cancelling his government service eligibility and retirement benefits and imposing perpetual disqualification from reemployment in the government.
Despite this, Capil won the Porac mayoral election on May 12 with 39,939 votes, defeating former mayor Michael Tapang (23,063 votes). Comelec has declared the votes Capil got as “stray” and ordered the Municipal Board of Canvassers (MBOC) in Porac to meet again, correct the Certificate of Canvass of Votes, and announce the candidate with the highest valid votes.
It said in a statement: “To permit a candidate, who is administratively disqualified to run for office, would render the constitutional and statutory sanctions imposed by the Ombudsman inutile, effectively frustrating the ends of administrative discipline and making a mockery of the electoral process.
“Comelec, as a constitutional commission, is duty-bound to protect the sanctity of elections and ensure that only qualified and eligible individuals are allowed to run for public office.”
Lucky South 99 was raided last June by agents from the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC). During the operation, 207 workers, including from China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Myanmar, were arrested.
The former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque Jr faces human trafficking charges linked to the activities of the operator. Roque left the Philippines in September after being cited for contempt by the House of Representatives for refusing to attend hearings. He is currently seeking political asylum in the Netherlands.
