MANILA – Bienvenido “Benny” Abante Jr. has been officially proclaimed winner in the congressional race for Manila’s 6th District after the Commission on Elections (Comelec) en banc junked the appeal of opponent Luis “Joey” Chua Uy, affirming a prior ruling that disqualified Uy for not being a natural-born Filipino citizen.
The en banc ruling upheld the Comelec 2nd Division’s earlier decision to suspend Uy’s proclamation, citing his ineligibility to run for or hold a seat in the House of Representatives due to his citizenship status.
In its resolution, the Comelec emphasized that Uy, born on March 15, 1962, was the son of a Chinese citizen who only became a naturalized Filipino on August 28, 1967. Although Uy’s mother was a Filipino citizen before her marriage to his Chinese father in 1944, the Commission ruled this was insufficient to confer natural-born citizenship on Uy.
Uy, for his part, insisted on his eligibility: “Kung ang inyong ina ay natural-born at ang Pilipinas ang iyong lupang sinilangan, ‘di ba, natural-born Filipino. Ako po ay Pilipino,” he said in a statement.
“Lumaki, nag-aral, naninirahan, nagsilbi at patuloy akong nagsisilbi sa aking mahal na lungsod ng Maynila bilang konsehal nang ilang termino mula pa noong 2004,” he added, underscoring his years of public service in Manila.
Uy had initially edged out Abante in the May midterm elections, garnering 64,746 votes against Abante’s 63,358. But with the Comelec’s final ruling, Abante has officially reclaimed the seat he previously held in Congress./PN
