Sen. Panfilo “Ping” M. Lacson on Saturday questioned the motive behind the vote of three minority senator-members of the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET) in favor of a motion for reconsideration seeking to unseat Sen. Erwin Tulfo.

Lacson noted the three had voted in favor of a motion for reconsideration with amended petition for quo warranto, filed by a petitioner who he described as “without legal standing.”

In Filipino: Lacson, Kinuwestiyon ang Motibo sa Pagboto ng mga Minority Senator sa ‘Out-of-Time’ na Mosyon sa SET Laban kay Tulfo

“SENATE ELECTORAL TRIBUNAL: Justice and fairness went out of the window when three minority senator-members voted in favor of an out-of-time motion for reconsideration filed by a petitioner without legal standing.
Their motive may be deeper than personal issues against Sen Tulfo,” he said in a post on X.

In a subsequent X post, Lacson also commended the three Supreme Court justices and the other three senator-members of the SET who “undoubtedly knew” the procedural flaw and whose votes helped defeat the motion.

“MORE ON THE SENATE ELECTORAL TRIBUNAL: Let’s give credit to the three SC justice-members and the other three senator-members who undoubtedly knew the obvious procedural flaw which resulted in a 6-3 vote, thus dismissing the motion for reconsideration,” he said.

On Friday, the SET voted 6-3 to deny the motion for reconsideration with amended petition for quo warranto filed by Berteni Causing.

Causing’s original petition sought to unseat Tulfo citing questions about his citizenship, alleged membership in a political dynasty and lack of academic qualifications. The original petition was dismissed due to insufficiency in form.

The SET also ruled that the motion was filed beyond the period set by the 2020 SET Rules and did not comply with its filing and service requirements.

It added that the amended petition itself remained insufficient in form. The denial was without prejudice to the filing of any other petition.

The SET is composed of three Supreme Court justices and six senators. Sens. Pilar Juliana “Pia” Cayetano, Robinhood Padilla and Camille Villar sit in the tribunal for the minority, while Sens. Francis Pangilinan, Benigno Aquino IV, and Manuel “Lito” Lapid sit for the majority bloc.

Lacson also cited Sen. Pangilinan’s observation that a basic requirement for any petition before the SET is that the complainant must be a registered voter, but Causing failed to establish this in his petition.

As such, the SET dismissed the complaint unanimously last year citing as one reason in its ruling that the petitioner failed to establish that he was a registered voter. When Causing filed his motion for reconsideration in April this year – after the prescribed filing period had lapsed – he “failed to allege that he was a qualified voter a second time.”

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Lacson, Kinuwestiyon ang Motibo sa Pagboto ng mga Minority Senator sa ‘Out-of-Time’ na Mosyon sa SET Laban kay Tulfo

Kinuwestiyon ni Sen. Panfilo “Ping” M. Lacson nitong Sabado ang motibo sa likod ng pagboto ng tatlong minority senator-member ng Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET) sa isang motion for reconsideration na naglalayong patalsikin si Sen. Erwin Tulfo.

Ani Lacson, bumoto ang tatlo pabor sa motion for reconsideration with amended petisyon for quo warranto, na inihain ng isang petitioner na ayon sa kanya ay walang legal na batayan upang magsampa nito.

“SENATE ELECTORAL TRIBUNAL: Justice and fairness went out of the window when three minority senator-members voted in favor of an out-of-time motion for reconsideration filed by a petitioner without legal standing. Their motive may be deeper than personal issues against Sen Tulfo,” aniya sa isang post sa X.

Sa isa pang post sa X, pinuri rin ni Lacson ang tatlong mahistrado ng Korte Suprema at ang tatlo pang senator na miyembro ng SET na aniya’y alam ang “procedural flaw” at bumoto para tulungang matalo ang mosyon.

“MORE ON THE SENATE ELECTORAL TRIBUNAL: Let’s give credit to the three SC justice-members and the other three senator-members who undoubtedly knew the obvious procedural flaw which resulted in a 6-3 vote, thus dismissing the motion for reconsideration,” aniya.

Noong Biyernes, bumoto ang SET, 6-3, upang tanggihan ang motion for reconsideration with amended petition for quo warranto na inihain ni Berteni Causing.

Layunin ng orihinal na petisyon ni Causing na patalsikin si Tulfo, batay sa isyu tungkol sa kanyang pagkamamamayan, umano’y pagiging miyembro ng isang political dynasty, at mga kwalipikasyong pang-akademiko. Ibinasura ang orihinal na petisyon dahil sa “insufficiency in form.”

Nagpasya rin ang SET na inihain ang mosyon lampas sa panahong itinakda ng 2020 SET Rules at hindi ito sumunod sa mga kinakailangan sa paghahain at paghahatid ng kopya ng mga dokumento.

Ayon din sa SET, insufficient in form pa rin ang amended na petisyon. Gayunman, ang pagtanggi rito ay hindi hadlang sa paghahain ng iba pang petisyon.

Binubuo ang SET ng tatlong mahistrado ng Korte Suprema at anim na senador. Kabilang sa mga minority senator-member ng tribunal sina Sen. Pilar Juliana “Pia” Cayetano, Robinhood Padilla, at Camille Villar, habang kinakatawan naman nina Francis Pangilinan, Benigno Aquino IV, at Manuel “Lito” Lapid ang majority bloc.

Binanggit din ni Lacson ang obserbasyon ni Sen. Pangilinan na isa sa mga pangunahing rekisito sa paghahain ng petisyon sa SET ay ang pagiging rehistradong botante ng nagrereklamo, ngunit hindi ito napatunayan ni Causing sa kanyang petisyon.

Dahil dito, nagkaisa ang mga miyembro ng SET sa pagbasura sa reklamo noong nakaraang taon, na kabilang sa mga dahilan ang kabiguang patunayan ng petitioner na siya ay rehistradong botante. Nang maghain si Causing ng motion for reconsideration nitong Abril — matapos lumampas ang itinakdang panahon para sa paghahain nito — muli siyang nabigong patunayan na isa siyang qualified voter.

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