The Commission on Elections Second Division has disqualified Gloria Alisbo from being barangay chairman of Barangay 9 in Bacolod City on the grounds that she is not a resident of the barangay.

The Commission also ordered the highest ranking Barangay Kagawad of Brgy. 9 to succeed Alisbo in a resolution signed by presiding commissioner Rene Sarmiento and commissioner Nicodemo Ferrer promulgated Feb. 28, 2008.

A copy of the resolution was obtained by the media yesterday from City Legal Officer Allan Zamora, counsel of petitioner Gary Yanson, former Barangay Captain of Brgy. 9.

Yanson had filed a petition for disqualification against Alisbo on Oct. 22, 2007 claiming that the respondent is a resident of Purok Santol, Brgy. Mandalagan and not of Brgy. 9.

He claimed that the residence indicated by Alisbo in her Certificate of Candidacy is not the place where she lives but the business address of the funeral parlor owned by her family.

Alisbo and Yanson were rival candidates for barangay captain of Brgy. 9 during the Oct. 29, 2007 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections.

On Oct. 29, 2007, Yanson filed a motion to suspend the proclamation of Alisbo as the winning candidate for barangay chairman of Brgy. 9 pending the resolution of the petition for disqualification he had filed with the Office of the Provincial Election Supervisor of Negros Occidental.

He also filed an urgent motion for ocular inspection where he implored the Commission to conduct an ocular inspection on the address claimed by Alisbo to be her residence at Lacson-Burgos streets in Brgy. 9.

Yanson said Gloria Alisbo is the wife of Councilor Catalino Alisbo, who is a bona fide resident of Purok Santol, Brgy. Mandalagan.

Gloria Alisbo claims that Yanson has no cause of action against her and that she has all the qualifications and none of the disqualifications provided in Section 2 of COMELEC Resolution 8297.

Contrary to Yanson’s allegations, Alisbo said that she is a resident of Purok Daisy, Brgy. 9. She said her case does not fall among the enumerations of the grounds for disqualification listed in Section 3 of COMECLEC Resolution 8297. She asked for the dismissal of the petition filed by Yanson for lack of basis in fact and in law.

Sarmiento, in his resolution, said the Commission, after a careful examination of the pleadings and the pieces of evidence that the parties had submitted, is convinced that Alisbo should be disqualified from running for barangay chairman of Brgy. 9 since she is not a resident of the barangay.

The building that she claims to be her residence is a funeral parlor without any provision for a living quarter where she and her family could rest and while away their time whenever they want, he said.

The hearing officer who conducted the ocular inspection is convinced that the room where he was brought by Alisbo inside the funeral parlor cannot be considered as a residence as there were only three pews inside and nothing else that would indicate that it is the residence of the respondent, Sarmiento said.

Alisbo was not able to present any evidence that will rebut the findings of the hearing officer, he said.

However, Yanson was able to establish by competent evidence that Alisbo has her domicile in Purok Santol, Brgy. Mandalagan through the personal data sheet of her husband, the PLDT telephone bill of their residence in Mandalagan and the PLDT white pages, Sarmiento said.

The Commission holds that Alisbo has failed to satisfy the requirement of law and rules that a candidate must be a resident of the place where he/she intends to run for at least one year prior to the date of the election, he said.

As a result, she is therefore ineligible to run for the position of barangay chairman of Brgy. 9 because she is not a resident of that place, he added.

Her victory over Yanson does not validate her election to office, Sarmiento said.

Since the wreath of victory cannot be transferred from Alisbo to Yanson, the Commission has no other choice but to pass on the baton to the number one barangay kagawad of Brgy. 9 pursuant to the rule of succession provided under the Local Government Code of 1991.

Gloria Alisbo could not be reached for comment as of press time despite repeated efforts by the DAILY STAR to contact her.*CGS

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