This was the view expressed here by noted election lawyer Romulo Macalintal who said “the qualification of Mayor Boking is no problem.”
Morales first became mayor of Mabalacat, then a municipality, in 1995. He has remained the town’s mayor with minimal interruption since then. Morales won in the 2013 elections after Mabalacat was declared a city the previous year, making him the first city mayor.
Macalintal noted that “many things changed in the transition of Mabalacat from being a small town to being a city.”
“Some of those who object to Mayor Boking’s candidacy have cited similar cases being junked by the Supreme Court. But those cases are different from the situations in Mabalacat where there has been significant changes in constituency,” he said.
He said that the geographical scope of Mabalacat, as well as its population and income have significantly increased.
“The Comelec need not be informed about these major developments for Mayor Bokong’s filing of candidacy, but these factors could be cited by the mayor as defense in case any disqualification petition against his candidacy is filed,” he said.
Macalintal said that while the Comelec is duty bound to accept Morales’s filing of candidacy, it can also entertain any petition to disqualify the mayor.
Earlier, provincial Board Member Cris Garbo, who has bared plans to run for mayor of Mabalacat, urged Morales not to seek reelection and give chance to younger leaders. Saying he had no plans to file disqualification case against Morales, he appealed to the “conscience” of Morales whom he noted to have remained in the mayoral post for over two decades now.
But Morales, in an interview, challenged Garbo to run against him and allow Mabalacat folk to choose whom they want.
“The people’s voice is the will of God,” he said.
“I would not run if I did not think I remain qualified. There are still many things to work on. There’s the development of the Clark airport and the development of a 3,000-hectare area covering 10 barangays into a business center, among other things,” Morales said.
Macalintal said Morales is the country’s longest mayoral termer but through no fault of his own. He noted that Morales has remained mayor as a result of protests of his former political adversaries that led to his fresh mayoral terms.
