The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Friday disqualified the daughter of convicted rapist Romeo Jalosjos who won as mayor of Baliangao town in Misamis Occidental during the May elections.
In a five-page decision, the Comelec's Second Division said Svetlana Jalosjos failed to prove that she stayed long enough in Baliangao as a resident to be qualified to run for mayor.
Section 39 of the Local Government Code of the Philippines states that a candidate running for an elective post must be a resident of the municipality or province where he or she is running, for at least a year.
Svetlana won over Agne Yap by only six votes in the last elections.
Statutory rape
Romeo was slapped with two life terms after being convicted with two counts of statutory rape and six counts of acts of lasciviousness against an 11-year-old girl in 1996.
In March 2009, then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo issued a commutation order for Jalosjos, after his Good Conduct Time Allowance reduced his sentence to 13 years, five months, and 15 days.
Yet despite the fate that befell the elder Jalosjos, his family continues to reign in Zamboanga del Norte: his son Rommel won the gubernatorial race in Zamboanga Sibugay while another son, Romeo Jr., won as congressman of the province's second district. — RSJ/JV
