TAGUIG City Mayor Lani Cayetano and former Department of Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter S. Cayetano have assured citizens of Pateros and Taguig that they will answer the issues raised in a petition challenging their congressional bids point by point.
In a statement, the two reassured the electorate of Taguig and Pateros of their absolute preparedness to answer the issues raised in the disqualification cases.
Taguig City resident Leonides Buac Jr. filed the petition, claiming that they are residing in two different addresses and argued that “a married couple can only maintain one legal residence at any given time.”
Alan is gunning for a congressional seat in the first district of Taguig-Pateros while his wife is seeking the House seat in the second district of Taguig.
In their Certificates of Candidacy, Alan declared that he is a resident of Barangay Bagumbayan, Taguig while Lani, declared her residence as Two Serendra in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig.
The couple, however, remained firm and said that the disqualification cases, from the correct perspective, are irrelevant to their constituents’ desire.
“We have been serving for many years now the residents of Taguig and Pateros. Our candidacies for the 2019 local elections would simply continue our public service,” the two said.
The couple’s lawyer has called the argument seeking to invalidate the couple’s CoCs as “shallow,” saying a person can have several residences at the same time based on election law doctrines and the Supreme Court itself.
The couple are running “not because they wanted to get the best of both worlds but that’s what the law allows, not because we wanted to take advantage of the law but because that is the wish of the people of Taguig,” said George Garcia in an interview where he clarified the terms used by the petitioner. (Dhel Nazario)
