But Martinez is unable to take oath before House session

MANILA, Philippines - The Supreme Court (SC) has ruled with finality that Liberal Party (LP) bet Celestino "Tining" Martinez is the duly elected representative of Cebu's 4th district.

However, citing further "legal obstacles," House Speaker Prospero Nograles has refused to comply with the High Court's decision.

"I'd like to believe that, being the Speaker and a lawyer, he would implement the decision of the SC and the laws that provide for such implementation. I would like to believe that this goes beyond alliances because it's about the law," Martinez said in a press conference on Wednesday.

With 3 remaining session days left in the 14th Congress, Martinez fears the delays would prevent him from assuming his post. Congress adjourns on February 5 for the election campaign.

Martinez is dislodging Benhur Salimbangon, an ally of Nograles in the administration party Lakas-Kampi-CMD.

The Supreme Court ruled that Martinez won by about 5,000 votes in the May 2007 elections. This is contrary to the earlier decision of the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET) that Salimbangon won by 453 votes.

Sol-Gen intervention

On Tuesday, another Lakas-Kampi stalwart came to the rescue of Salimbangon when Makati City Rep. Teodoro Locsin questioned the delay in Martinez's oathtaking.

Senior House leader Cebu Rep. Pablo Garcia said the HRET, not the Supreme Court, has the final say on poll protests involving its members.

“Our communication from the solicitor-general said that there ought to be no oath-taking because as far the HRET is concerned, in that office, Representative Salimbangon has won,” Garcia said.

Garcia cited Rule 14 of the Revised Rules of the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal, which states that “the Tribunal shall be the sole judge of all contests relating to the election returns and qualifications of the Members of the House of Representatives.”

On Monday, January 25, the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) filed before the Supreme Court a motion for reconsideration in the election protest. This is the legal obstacle that Nograles is using to justify his non-compliance with the SC decision favoring Martinez.

Nograles said he has no problem implementing the decision of the Supreme Court. But he said the High Court first has to decide on the intervention filed by the Office of the Solicitor General.

"There are pending legal obstacles that need to be addressed before the House can implement the High Tribunal's decision. The legal status of this issue is that while the SC rendered its decision with finality, the Office of the Solicitor General, which is the counsel for the Republic of the Philippines has a pending motion for reconsideration in relation to the SC decision, and it is our legal position that we should wait for the SC to act on the OSG's motion before taking any action on this matter," Nograles said.

Martinez's camp was surprised by the move of the OSG.

"This comes as a complete surprise considering that the OSG had earlier filed a "Manifestation and Motion" dated October 26, 2009, praying that it be excused from participating in the above election protest, as the HRET is only a nominal party to the case," Martinez said.

Incomplete oathtaking

Martinez had actually taken his oath before Nograles last Wednesday, January 20, or a day after the Supreme Court junked the motion for reconsideration filed by Salimbangon.

"My family was here already a week ago, Wednesday. We asked him (to administer my oath) since my family cannot come back anymore. So we could have a picture taken with him--my father, my mom, my sister, and my wife. They were all here for that," Martinez said.

But it was an incomplete oathtaking. Based on House Rules, a congressman has to take his oath before the Speaker and before an open session before he is officially recognized.

Martinez said Nograles agreed to administer his oath before an open session on January 25, Monday. But Nograles was absent.

"He promised us in front of Liway[way] Chato and Jun Abaya (LP solons) that he would administer the oath come Monday. The reason I got was he had a stomach flu (last Monday). Yesterday, he was not around. I hope today he will be here," Martinez said.

However, no oathtaking happened on Wednesday.

Martinez and Salimbangon will fight for the same post in May 2010.