MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) first division has granted a petition to disqualify former Catanduanes governor Joseph Cua as a candidate for mayor of Virac, Catanduanes, in the 2025 midterm elections due to the unresolved issues concerning his citizenship.
The decision came even after Cua lost the mayoral race to reelectionist Sinforoso Sarmiento, who filed the petition.
Based on Comelec first division’s decision released to the media on Saturday, it granted Sarmiento’s petition to disqualify the candidacy of Cua, who he alleged is a Chinese national.
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According to the commission, Cua’s Certificate of Candidacy provides that he has been a resident of the Philippines and specifically of Virac for 61 years and six months before the election on May 12, 2025.
His birth certificate indicates that he was born in San Andres, Catanduanes, on October 16, 1962, but he “has been conspicuously absent for one year in the Philippines, something which he failed to explain.”
“Upon calculation, and assuming that Respondent was a resident of the Philippines since birth, he should have been a resident herein for 62 years and 6 months on the day before the 12 May 2025 NLE,” the Comelec said.
It added that Cua’s absence for a year in the Philippines “casts doubt on his compliance with the residence requirement of his derivative naturalization.”
Aside from this, the Comelec first division noted that Cua admitted to serving as mayor of his birthplace, San Andres, from 2001 to 2004, while claiming to have been a resident of Virac for 61 years and six months.
“It would be mathematically impossible for him to reside in Virac for 61 years and six months in view of his service as Municipal Mayor of San Andres. This raises even more questions as to Respondent’s qualification to run for an elective local office,” said the poll body. /cb
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