Mark Jimenez, the Manila lawmaker who was extradited to the U.S. on charges of tax fraud and illegal contributions to the campaign of former U.S. president Bill Clinton, has been disqualified as congressman by the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET).
Voting 7-2, the HRET said Jimenez is "ineligible" for the office of the representative of the sixth district of Manila for lack of the required residence period of at least one year before the 2001 elections.
The tribunal said Jimenez did not live in the district that he represented when he returned from the U.S. in 1998, but in the posh walled village of Forbes Park in Makati City, Manila's central business district.
Pete Quadra, counsel for Jime-nez's opponent, Pablo Ocampo, said Jimenez gave himself away in an affidavit he submitted to the justice department during extradition proceedings against him.
Jimenez indicated in that document that he lived in Forbes Park, Makati, and not in Manila's sixth district. The tribunal favoured the election protest filed by Rosenda Anne 'Sandy' Ocampo, Pablo Ocampo's daughter, who was Manila's sixth district representative before Jimenez won in 2001.
Among those who voted to disqualify Jimenez were Supreme Court Justices Vicente Dy-Mendoza, Renato Puno and Leonardo Quisumbing, and Representatives Douglas Cagas, Zenaida Ducut, Oscar Rodriguez and Salacnib Baterina. Only Rep. Magtanggol Gunigundo and Joaquin Chipeco voted against.
Quadra said Jimenez could still file a motion for reconsideration with the tribunal, and then with the Supreme Court should he lose the second time.
Jimenez disqualified as congressman
Jimenez disqualified as congressman