By JOSEPH ARNEL DELIVERIO
Sibugay Express and VERA Files
THE Court of Appeals, in a dramatic last-minute decision, has ordered Romeo “Jon-Jon” Jalosjos Jr. reinstated as a voter in Ipil town in Zamboanga Sibugay, allowing him to run for a congressional seat in the province’s second district despite his being the incumbent mayor of Tampilisan in the neighboring province of Zamboanga del Norte.
Jalosjos Jr. is a son of convicted rapist and former Zamboanga del Norte congressman Romeo Jalosjos.
No less than the court sheriff of the CA’s 22nd Division based in Cagayan de Oro City flew by helicopter to Ipil town on Friday, Nov. 27, to personally deliver the order to the Ipil Registration Board, just hours before the Election Registration Board released its official voters’ list.
Jalosjos Jr. called the CA decision an act of “divine intervention.”
The election in Zamboanga Sibugay is shaping up as a contest to watch. Jalosjos and half-brother Rommel, who is running for governor, have initially claimed to be the official candidates of the administration party Lakas-Kampi-CMD.
Rommel, a chef who had been based in Australia for years, returned in November 2008 to establish residency, subsequently reacquiring Filipino citizenship.
The brothers are going up against the incumbent Hofer family. Ann Hofer, congresswoman of the second district, has filed her certificate of candidacy for governor, also under the administration party.
Hofer said her group, which includes her brother and incumbent Provincial Administrator Jet Hofer II, has the blessings of party stalwarts, Local Governments Secretary Ronaldo Puno and presidential candidate Gilberto Teodoro.
Jet Hofer is running against Jalosjos Jr.
Hofer said in a speech recently that a revocation effectively terminating the Jalosjos group as official candidates of the Lakas-Kampi-CMD would soon be issued.
True enough, the administration on Tuesday revoked its support for the candidacy of the Jalosjos brothers who, sources said, have approached Nacionalista Party standard-bearer Manuel Villar for a possible tie-up.
Jalosjos Jr. would not have been able to file his candidacy without the CA ruling, which orders the name “Romeo Jalosjos Jr.” included in the official voters’ list in Precinct 51-F in Barangay Veterans Village in Ipil town.
The CA ruling reverses a Sept. 11 decision of the Pagadian City Regional Trial Court excluding him from the roll.
The RTC case was filed by Veterans Village barangay captain Dan Erasmo Sr. who alleged, among other things, that Jalosjos could not be considered a resident of Ipil since he is the incumbent mayor of Tampilisan, Zamboanga del Norte.
The decision of RTC Presiding Judge Aniceto Galon was final and executory, and had already been enforced by the Election Registration Board of Ipil which had deleted his name from the official list of Ipil voters in a resolution dated Sept. 30.
Jalosjos Jr. then petitioned the CA for certiorari and issuance of either a temporary restraining order or a writ of preliminary mandatory injunction or both.
The CA sought counsel from other entities, among them the Office of the Solicitor General. The OSG had asked for more time to decide, saying it would submit its comment in January 2010.
But without awaiting the OSG’s comment, the CA held that Jalosjos had “satisfactorily shown the existence of an extraordinary situation which calls for the issuance of a writ of preliminary injunction.”
Jalosjos Jr.’s lawyer, Richard Rambuyong, said the CA issued the writ on Thursday, Nov. 26. The next day, Nov. 27, the court sheriff himself personally delivered the order, arriving by helicopter at the Ipil airport at 2 p.m.
At 4 p.m., the injunction was submitted to Ipil’s Election Registration Board. At 5 p.m., the Ipil Election Registration Board released the official voters’ list, which now includes “Romeo M. Jalosjos Jr.” as a registered voter in Precinct 51-F, Barangay Veterans Village.
The next day, Nov. 28, armed with a resolution issued by the Ipil Commission on Elections and the new voters’ list of Veteran’s Village, Jalosjos Jr. filed his certificate of candidacy for congressman of the second district of Zamboanga Sibugay.
The Jalosjos brothers are running alongside incumbent vice governor Andre Olegario who is seeking re-election, and candidates for board members Hadji Said Ajeron, Flor Coliba, Editha Colanghe, Eric Palma and Cris Jore for the first district. For the second district, the Jalosjos partymates are Eric Cabarios, Boyet “Empoy” Abalde, Ipil councilor Joel Ebol, Wilborne Danda and Sonny Dacula.
Running under the Hofers are vice gubernatorial bet Board Member Juanito “Igsoon” Gonzales, and candidates for board members Quirino Esguerra, Vic Javier, Rodrigo Belosillo, Gani Balladares and Jessie Sali for the second district. In the first district, the names of Buug mayor Tessie Famor, Sakalura, Iwaya and Suarez have cropped up as Hofer allies.