Competition Commissioner to run for congresswoman

By Charmaine A. Tadalan, Reporter
COMMISSIONER Stella Luz A. Quimbo of the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) will run in the midterm elections for representative of the 2^nd district of Marikina City, incumbent Rep. Romero S. Quimbo, the commissioner’s husband, confirmed.
“She will run for Congress to replace me,” Mr. Quimbo told ����ý in an interview after the House Ways and Means Committee meeting on Monday.
“She will be a better representative than I am,” he said, adding that Ms. Quimbo has already filed her candidacy by way of substitution “Nag-file na siya to substitute me.”
This, however, may be questioned in the light of Section 8 of the Philippine Competition Act, which states that Commissioners “… shall not be qualified to run for any office in the election immediately succeeding their cessation from office.”
Mr. Quimbo said “that doesn’t cover her. First, she’s on secondment coming from UP (University of the Philippines), she remains a UP professor; secondly, that’s unconstitutional.”
He added that the “provision is clearly unconstitutional because it’s the first ever, meaning it effectively curtails the fundamental right of an individual to run for office and it’s not contained in the Constitution.”
Mr. Quimbo said only the qualifications stated under the Constitution shall be considered when running for Congress.
“The qualifications of a member of Congress (are) only dictated by the Constitution, you can’t add or cannot subtract,” he said.