(Eagle News)–The Palace on Wednesday, Feb. 13, welcomed the Supreme Court’s dismissal of Elly Pamatong’s petition that seeks to oust Rodrigo Duterte as president.
“We have treated such petition at the outset as without basis in fact and in law. The Supreme Court has validated our view on the matter,” Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said.
According to Panelo, Pamatong’s “allegation that he assumed the presidency last June 30, 2016 is nothing but fantasy.”
“Neither can he be classified as an individual who has a claim to the seat of the presidency, not even being a legitimate candidate in the 2016 elections,” Panelo said.
In dismissing Pamatong’s quo warranto petition, the SC en banc, in a seven-page minute resolution, said his “cause of action already prescribed” on June 30, 2017, one year after Duterte was inaugurated as the 16th President.
Pamatong filed the petition on June 6, 2018 or “only a few days short of two years since Duterte’s inauguration,” the SC said.
According to the High Court, Pamatong also lacks the “legal standing” to file the petition in the first place.
Under the Rules of Court, the SC said the general rule is that only the government can file such a petition or an individual who has a claim to the position from which the ouster is sought.
This means, the SC said, that for Pamatong to have legal standing to file the quo warranto, he should have been a candidate who ran against Duterte during the 2016 national elections and lost.
But the High Court said Pamatong’s Certificate of Candidacy for the presidential post in the 2016 polls had been disapproved by the Commission on Elections after he was found to be a nuisance candidate.
The SC said his disqualification was affirmed by the Court with finality on January 12, 2016.
