WELL-KNOWN election lawyer Romulo Macalintal defended Filipino ring idol Manny Pacquiao’s right to run for a congressional seat in South Cotabato, saying the claim that he failed to satisfy residency requirements was wrong.
In a telephone conversation with Viva Sports/Standard Today, Macalintal, the lawyer for Vice President Noli de Castro in the election case filed against him by defeated candidate Loren Legarda, said that provided Pacquiao transferred his registration records from Manila back to GenSan, he is eligible to run for office.
On July 5, Pacquiao requested for transfer of residency from GenSan to Manila.
Referring to the statement of Commission on Elections Chairman Ben Abalos that a candidate for political office was required to have a one-year residency, Macalintal argued that Pacquiao’s residency in GenSan “has never been abandoned. That was his original residence and even if he transferred his registration records, that does not mean he has already abandoned his domicile of origin.”
Macalintal emphasized that under the election law, residence refers to domicile “where you intend to return every time you leave the place.”
He said Pacquiao is considered a resident of GenSan because his house is there, the family is there and he never abandoned his residence.
Reacting to Abalos’ statement that when Pacquiao requested for transfer of residency, he stated that he had lived in Manila for two years, Macalintal said it shouldn’t go against him because “he was only there [in Manila] as a residence of choice and even if you make a residence of choice, that does not abandon your domicile of origin.”
Meamtime, Rep. Darlene Antoninio Custodio said she was having a legal team research on the residency issue, although the articulate and talented opposition lawmaker said she had been preparing for the elections in case Pacquiao decided to run.
