Comelec asked to disqualify Cayetano couple from 2019 polls

“Following this rule, the spouses cannot keep separate domiciles or for one spouse to claim a separate and independent domicile from the matrimonial domicile,” he added. (File Photo: Alan Peter Cayetano/Facebook)

MANILA — Separate petitions to deny due course were filed on Monday against former senator Alan Peter Cayetano and his wife, Taguig City Mayor Lani Cayetano at the Commission on Elections (Comelec) for not possessing the minimum residency qualification imposed by the 1987 Constitution for the members of the House of Representatives.

Petitioner and Taguig resident Leonides Buac Jr. said the couple must be disqualified from running in the forthcoming polls, adding that they cannot claim living in separate residences as indicated on their respective Certificates of Candidacy (COCs) which is not in accordance with Article 69 of the Family Code.

He noted that the law mandates them to fix one matrimonial domicile or residence, as well as Article 68, which obliges them to live there together.

“In his COC, Alan Peter Cayetano claimed that he is a resident of Barangay Bagumbayan in the First District, while Lani Cayetano claimed that she resides in Barangay Fort Bonifacio in the Second District,” lawyer Emil Marañon III, the petitioner’s counsel, said in a statement.

“Following this rule, the spouses cannot keep separate domiciles or for one spouse to claim a separate and independent domicile from the matrimonial domicile,” he added.

Cayetano, former Foreign Affairs Secretary, is running as representative of Taguig’s first district while his wife is running in the city’s second district.

“Thus, Alan cannot claim domicile in Barangay Bagumbayan, while his wife, Lani Cayetano, in Barangay Fort Bonifacio. In other words, they cannot run in two different districts or jurisdictions at the same time,” Marañon added.

Alan’s older sister, Pia, is running again for senator while his youngest brother, Lino, is running for mayor of the city.