Solons back Speaker Belmonte's call for Comelec to lift disqualification of Senior Citizens

House members Tuesday supported the call of Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. for the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to lift the disqualification of party-list group Senior Citizens and proclaim its victory in the recent party-list elections.

Rep. Simeon Datumanong (2nd District, Maguindanao) and Rep. Giorgidi Aggabao (4th District, Isabela) backed the Speaker's appeal to the Comelec, as the solons cited the huge votes garnered by Senior Citizens in the party-list elections showed the tremendous confidence of Filipino voters in the group and their satisfaction of its congressional performance.

Datumanong, a former House Deputy Speaker for Mindanao, said the Speaker's appeal to the Comelec is rational and justified, and should be given weight by the poll body.

"The people have spoken through the ballots, and they want Senior Citizens back in Congress to once again represent the marginalized sector of elderly citizens. We urge the Comelec to heed Speaker Belmonte's reasonable appeal by lifting the disqualification of Senior Citizens and proclaim its victory in the party-list elections," Datumanong said.

The former Justice Secretary said the 671,916 votes garnered by Senior Citizens based on the latest Comelec tally, which put the group on the 10th spot, provide a convincing reason for the poll body to ease the disqualification of Senior Citizens.

Aggabao, a Vice Chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means, lauded Belmonte for fighting for Senior Citizens' representation in Congress.

"We commend Speaker Belmonte for pursuing the cause of Senior Citizens by urging the Comelec to remove the disqualification case against the party-list group. We totally agree with the Speaker that disqualifying Senior Citizens merely on the ground that it submitted a term-sharing agreement for two sets of nominees is unfair and unjust. This can be remedied by the Comelec by immediately removing the disqualification order," said Aggabao.

Earlier, the Speaker said Senior Citizens now constitute about 17 percent of the country's population for which it certainly deserves to be represented in Congress as a marginalized sector. He said the party and the sector it represents should not suffer for whatever unlawful agreements were entered into by its nominees. (PNA)