Philippines - The Supreme Court has ordered the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and presidential candidate Eduardo “Bro. Eddie” Villanueva, founder of the Jesus is Lord (JIL) sect, to comment on a motion questioning the legality of a leader of a religious organization running for President.
The High Court resolution was dated May 8 but only released Wednesday.
On May 7, Samson Alcantara had asked the high court to void the rulings of the Comelec, dismissing his petition seeking to stop the poll body giving due course to Villanueva’s candidacy.
Alcantara, president of the Advocates and Adherents of Social Justice for School Teachers and Allied Workers, accused the Comelec of committing grave abuse of discretion when it accepted Villanueva’s certificate of candidacy.
He argued that being the head of the JIL religious group, Villanueva is disqualified from running for President by reason of the constitutional principle of separation of Church and State.
He warned, “Other religions will be obliterated. The free exercise [of religion] clause will be useless. Religious persecution, which should be a thing of the distant past, will be revived.”
The Comelec had junked Alcantara’s petition and his motion for reconsideration on the ground there was no provision in the Constitution providing that a candidate is disqualified from the presidential race if he is a religious leader.
Alcantara conceded that such prohibition is not explicitly written in the Constitution but he argued the principle of separation of Church and State is so basic that it need not even be stated in the Charter.
Banning religious leaders from running, Alcantara further argued, cannot be considered a form of the prohibited religious test since their disqualification stems not from their exercise of their religious beliefs but from the fundamental principle of separation of Church and State.
The Manila Trial Court ruled in Alcantara’s favor but on May 30 the Supreme Court voided the lower court’s decision.