The Commission on Elections was asked to bar former Palawan Gov. Mario Joel Reyes from running for his former position in the elections this Monday on grounds of being convicted of graft by the Sandiganbayan.
Bataraza, Palawan-based voters Nasir Radjudin Miranda and Mohammad Winarao Asgali filed a petition for disqualification, saying that Reyes has been found guilty by the anti-graft court in August 2017 for giving “unwarranted benefits, preference, and advantage” to Olympic Mines and Development Corporation by renewing its small-scale mining permit despite allegedly violating its terms and conditions.
The said petitioners further argued that aside from a six-year prison term, Reyes was handed a lifetime ban from joining the government for violating Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
Reyes also faces a possible re-arrest after the Office of the Solicitor General asked the Supreme Court to lift its temporary restraining order on the Puerto Princesa City Regional Trial Court from enforcing its arrest warrant on the former governor in connection with the murder of broadcaster and anti-mining advocate Dr. Gerry Ortega in 2011.
