Ex-congressman Ong questions solon’s residency
BY: LIZBETH ANN A. ABELLA
TACLOBAN CITY- In yet another campaign to unseat elected Leyte Rep. Lolita Karen Javier, her rival, former congressman Henry Ong filed another action against her before the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET) on Monday (July 15).
In his petition, Ong asked the HRET to issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) against her from discharging the functions and powers of being a Congress member.
The former congressman also wants the TRO to become ‘permanent.’
An aide of the congresswoman, who asked not to be named, said that they have yet to recieve a copy of the said complaint.
However, once they receive the copy, they will answer the complaint, she said.
“(The petitioner is seeking for the HRET) to restrain (Rep. Javier) from further exercising the powers and prerogatives attached to the position,” Ong said on his petition.
Ong also asked the HRET to declare Javier ‘ineligible to sit as a member of the House of Representatives for the second district of Leyte upon due hearing’ being not a resident of Jaro town.
The former solon said that Javier ‘abandoned’ her residency in Jaro in the second congressional district when she ‘relocated’ in Javier, a town which belongs to the fifth congressional district to join her husband, Leonardo Javier, who was then the town mayor.
This is the second time that Ong has filed a legal action against the congresswoman who trounced him during the May 13 midterm elections.
Earlier, Ong, who was then seeking for a possible second term, filed a case of falsification of public documents by private individual claiming that Javier falsified the entries of her certificate of candidacy, particularly on years of her being a resident of Jaro.
Rep.Javier, running for the first time under the banner of Partido Federal ng Pilipinas, defeated Ong by more than 27,000 votes.
The newly-elected solon garnered 112,989 votes against Ong’s 88,995 votes.(with report JOEY A.GABIETA)
