Petition questions citizenship of Zamboanga congressional bet

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines – A job-order employee of Zamboanga City Hall has filed a formal petition to disqualify congressional candidate Kaiser Adan Olaso, accusing him of misrepresenting his citizenship as he seeks a seat in the House of Representatives.

Efren Inclan, a worker under the city’s Barangay Affairs Section, went to the local office of the Commission on Elections on Tuesday, April 15, accompanied by legal counsel.

The petition he submitted alleged that Olaso is not a natural-born Filipino and therefore ineligible to run for Congress under the 1987 Constitution. He did not say his basis for alleging that Olaso is not a natural-born Filipino, except to say that his mother is a foreigner.

Kaiser is the brother of incumbent 1st District Representative Khymer Adan Olaso, and is running to replace him in the same post. In the same race are Zamboanga Vice Mayor Josephine Pareja and independent contender Katrina Chua.

Reached for comment, Olaso dismissed the petition with a laugh. “It has no legal basis,” he told reporters, characterizing the complaint as a ploy by rival political camps “meant to distract him from the current political complaint,” a reference he did not elaborate on.

Inclan said, “Public records show that Mr. Kaiser was born to Ms. Lorraine Por Tang, a Cambodian national.”

“It is heavily emphasized in Article 6, Section 6 of the 1987 Constitution that anyone seeking a seat in the House of Representatives should be a natural-born citizen of the Philippines. There is no exemption to the law and no consideration for dual citizenship and/or naturalization,” Inclan stated.

The petitioner added, “This is a serious matter of public concern as the integrity of the elections and the trust of the electorate depend on the strict enforcement of eligibility standards under the law.”

Olaso explained that his father, former Ayala barangay chairman Adan Ortega Olaso, was a Filipino, and he has his “documents to prove that.”

“They want me to lose focus on my campaign so that I cannot complain properly. But so far, it inspired me more to do my campaign because what I am doing is right,” Olaso said.

Olaso said his father being Filipino makes him one, too, even if his mother is a Cambodian.

Olaso has listed Zamboanga City as his place of birth and cited his educational attainment from various local schools, including Pilar College, Mein College, Ateneo de Zamboanga University, and Xavier University College of Law.

He said Inclan was clearly a supporter of another candidate. – Rappler.com