Punong Barangay Teodoro Castro of Burnham-Legarda, which covers our zonevil condo, recently transferred residence to Pacdal as the house he was taking care of has been recalled by its erstwhile owner.
Since election is nearing and there seems to be no issue as to his competence, integrity, and performance, his opponents, invisible in the meantime, are spreading words that he cannot run for reelection anymore as he is no longer my neighbor in Legarda.
In his defense, the tsismak is no issue and a no-brainer. I live in Camp 7 but vote in Trancoville where I grew up in a home by the river.
The late Gov. Rocky Molintas stayed in Baguio but voted and was voted upon in Benguet. President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. lives in Forbes Park but votes in Laoag City, Ilocos Norte.
The President’s mother, Imelda Romualdez Marcos, was living in San Juan when in 1995 she decided to run for representative of the First District of Leyte where she was born.
One Cirilo Roy Montejo, obviously not a fan, filed a disqualification case alleging that she was not a resident of Leyte. The Commission on Elections granted the disqualification and she went to the Supreme Court – the court of last resort.
The SC ruled in Marcos’ favor, deciding that she had legal residence or domicile in Leyte, assumed her seat and after her son, we sat in Batasan from 1995 to 1998.
Residence is synonymous with domicile, which reveals a tendency or mistake the concept of domicile for actual residence, a conception not intended for the purpose of determining a candidate’s qualifications for the election to the House of Representatives as required by the Constitution.
An individual does not lose her domicile even if she has lived and maintained residences in different places. What is important is animus intendi or intent to return.
Here, the evidence adduced by Montejo lacks the degree of persuasiveness as required to convince the court that an abandonment of domicile of origin in favor of a domicile of choice was indeed incurred.
It cannot be correctly argued that Marcos lost her domicile of origin by operation of law as a result of her marriage to the late President Ferdinand E. Marcos, Sr.
It can be concluded that the facts supporting its proposition that the former first lady was ineligible to run for representative of Leyte.
It was an error for Comelec when it referred to Marcos’ various places of (actual) residence, not her domicile (G.R. No. 119976 September 18, 1995).
So there, no more loose talk. You can’t put a good man down.
Sigh.
May 4, 2024
