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Engr Ernesto Matugas vs COMELEC and Robert Lyndon Barbers

ENGR. ERNESTO T. MATUGAS, petitioner, vs. COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS and ROBERT LYNDON S. BARBERS, respondents.

G.R. No. 151944 | 2004-01-20

D E C I S I O N

TINGA, J.:

The Local Government Code of 1991[1] requires that an elective local official be a citizen of the Philippines.[2] Whether the incumbent Governor of Surigao del Norte is a citizen of the Philippines and, therefore, qualified to hold such office is the issue in this case.

On February 28, 2001, private respondent Robert Lyndon S. Barbers filed his certificate of candidacy for the position of Governor of Surigao del Norte for the May 14, 2001 elections. On April 10, 2001, petitioner Ernesto T. Matugas, himself a candidate for the same post, filed with the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) a Petition to Disqualify...