Commission on Elections (Comelec) Commissioner Rowena Guanzon on Tuesday threatened that she would file charges against Ronald Cardema “all over the Philippines” for alleged libelous statements under oath.
Guanzon’s plan to sue stemmed from Cardema’s Notice of Withdrawal dated September 13 where he cited Guazon’s alleged “public harassment” as the reason why he is withdrawing his nomination as representative of pro-administration party-list Duterte Youth, as per a report from the Philippine Daily inquirer.
“Ila-libel ko siya sa buong Pilipinas pero wait lang siya sa New Year para masaya naman Pasko nya. Ngayon under oath na yang sinabi nya na corrupt ako,” Guanzon told reporters in an interview at the House of Representatives.
“Kunwari saan ba pwedeng mag-surfing? Siargao. Oh, file (ako ng kaso) sa Siargao para maka-surfing ako on the side after,” she added.
Guanzon said she was “seriously aggrieved” by Cardema’s accusations and that filing of charges will teach the former party-list representative a lesson.
“He will be facing several lawsuits, aside from libel cases we will sue him for damage in Cadiz City for destroying my good name. He’ll have to face trial in our own town. Kung sa mga Ilonggo ba ‘mereze,’ he deserves it,” the Comelec official said in the report.
Cardema, now 34 years of age, said that his withdrawal was meant to protect Duterte Youth party-list. He earned a seat in Congress in the May 2019 elections but was eventually disqualified since the party-list law requires youth representatives to be from 25 to 30 years old.
Guanzon said Cardema’s withdrawal of nomination has no effect since the Comelec has already disqualified his congressional bid.
