4/29/2020 E-Library - Information At Your Fingertips: Printer Friendly PASSPORT DATE OF Arrival NATIONALITY PASSPORT : : : : 057782700 03/23/2010 USA-AMERICAN 057782700[12] On 30 April 2010, the COMELEC (First Division) issued an Order[13] requiring the respondent to personally file his answer and memorandum within three (3) days from receipt thereof. After Arnado failed to answer the petition, Balua moved to declare him in default and to present evidence ex-parte. Neither motion was acted upon, having been overtaken by the 2010 elections where Arnado garnered the highest number of votes and was subsequently proclaimed as the winning candidate for Mayor of Kauswagan, Lanao del Norte. It was only after his proclamation that Arnado filed his verified answer, submitting the following documents as evidence:[14] 1. Affidavit of Renunciation and Oath of Allegiance to the Republic of the Philippines dated 03 April 2009; 2. Joint-Affidavit dated 31 May 2010 of Engr. Virgil Seno, Virginia Branzuela, Leoncio Daligdig, and Jessy Corpin, all neighbors of Arnado, attesting that Arnado is a long-time resident of Kauswagan and that he has been conspicuously and continuously residing in his family’s ancestral house in Kauswagan; 3. Certification from the Punong Barangay of Poblacion, Kauswagan, Lanao del Norte dated 03 June 2010 stating that Arnado is a bona fide resident of his barangay and that Arnado went to the United States in 1985 to work and returned to the Philippines in 2009; 4. Certification dated 31 May 2010 from the Municipal Local Government Operations Office of Kauswagan stating that Dr. Maximo P. Arnado, Sr. served as Mayor of Kauswagan, from January 1964 to June 1974 and from 15 February 1979 to 15 April 1986; and 5. Voter Certification issued by the Election Officer of Kauswagan certifying that Arnado has been a registered voter of Kauswagan since 03 April 2009. THE RULING OF THE COMELEC FIRST DIVISION Instead of treating the Petition as an action for the cancellation of a certificate of candidacy based on misrepresentation,[15] the COMELEC First Division considered it as one for disqualification. Balua’s contention that Arnado is a resident of the United States was dismissed upon the finding that “Balua failed to present any evidence to support his contention,”[16] whereas the First Division still could “not conclude that Arnado failed to meet the one-year residency requirement under the Local Government Code.”[17] elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocsfriendly/1/55820 3/49