MAGSASAKA party-list Chairman Argel Joseph Cabatbat on Wednesday slammed the decision of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to proclaim a certain Roberto Gerard Nazal Jr. as its representative and asked the Supreme Court (SC) to stop the ruling of the poll body.
In a press conference, Cabatbat said the decision of the Comelec was an insult to the farmer members of the Magsasaka party-list.
“Our fight is not at the House of Representatives but at the Supreme Court. We hope our plea reaches the Supreme Court to prevent a millionaire Pasahero party-list to become a Magsasaka party-list representative,” Cabatbat said.
Cabatbat added that Magsasaka filed a petition before the High Tribunal on Tuesday questioning the legality of the decision of the Comelec to proclaim Nazal.
“We immediately prepared the TRO and we were able to file the petition at 4:55 p.m. on Tuesday, shortly before the end of the office hours,” Cabatbat added.
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Cabatbat added that the Magsasaka party-list only learned about the poll body’s ruling through a social media post.
“We were really surprised when somebody forwarded a Facebook post Monday night congratulating a certain Roberto Gerard Nazal,” Cabatbat added.
Cabatbat noted that Nazal was the head of the defeated Pasahero party-list group during the May 2022 election.
“We do not know Robert Nazal Jr. He is not a member and if you will search his name, he is the founder of Pasahero party-list who lost in the 2022 elections,” Cabatbat added.