NOTE: THIS STORY WAS FIRST PUBLISHED IN THE BOHOL CHRONICLE’S SUNDAY PRINT EDITION.
Two separate petitions for quo warranto have been filed before the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET) seeking the removal of former Bohol governor Arthur C. Yap as member of the House of Representatives, where he sits as the first nominee of the Murang Kuryente Partylist.
Asked to comment on the petitions filed calling for his ouster, the partylist congressman said he will issue his comments once he will receive copies of the petitions.
The first case, docketed as HRET Case No. 25-017, entitled “Edgardo C. Ingking vs. Arthur C. Yap, 1st Nominee, Murang Kuryente Partylist,” challenges Yap’s authority to hold public office on the grounds of alleged ineligibility and fraudulent qualifications.
According to the petition, Yap is perpetually disqualified from holding public office following a February 19, 2025 decision of the Office of the Ombudsman in the case “Dan Neri Lim vs. Arthur C. Yap (SG 30), et al.”
In the said case, the Ombudsman found Yap and seven other provincial government employees guilty of grave misconduct, with the aggravating circumstance of serious dishonesty, for acts committed during his tenure as the governor of Bohol.
As a penalty, the Ombudsman ordered Yap’s dismissal from government service, with the accessory penalties of forfeiture of retirement benefits, cancellation of eligibility, and perpetual disqualification from holding public office. The decision further stated that the accessory penalties attached to dismissal would continue to be imposed.
Citing Section 7, Rule III of the Ombudsman’s Rules of Procedure, as amended by Administrative Order No. 17, the petition emphasized that Ombudsman decisions are immediately executory and are not stayed by the filing of an appeal. This rule was affirmed by the Supreme Court in Ombudsman v. Pacuribot or G.R. No. 193336, September 26, 2018.
On this basis, Edgardo C. Ingking, the petitioner, maintained that Yap remains dismissed from the service and perpetually disqualified from holding public office, and therefore has no legal authority to serve as a member of the House of Representatives as Murang Kuryente’s first nominee.
The petition further alleged that Yap committed fraudulent misrepresentation when he declared in his sworn Certificate of Nomination and Certificate of Acceptance of Nomination that he possessed all the qualifications and none of the disqualifications required by law for the position.
Yap was proclaimed as Murang Kuryente’s first nominee on October 2, 2025, after the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) disqualified the Duterte Youth Partylist, which had initially won three seats. Murang Kuryente did not originally obtain enough votes to secure a seat in the House of Representatives, but was proclaimed due to the disqualification.
The petitioner, Ingking, is a registered voter of Tagbilaran City and a member of Lihok Bol-anon Batok Korapsyon (LIHOK BOL-ANON), an anti-corruption organization.
The petition primarily asks the HRET to remove Yap from office as the party list representative. If granted, the seat would be assumed by Murang Kuryente Partylist second nominee.
SECOND PETITION
Similar to the first petition, the basis of the other quo warranto petition is Yap’s alleged perpetual disqualification from holding any public office based on the Ombudsman’s ruling in February 2025 for grave misconduct and serious dishonesty.
According to the petitioner, who is a registered voter of Cebu, Yap is not qualified to hold the office of congressman, and has no legal basis to serve in Congress due to his disqualification through the Ombudsman’s ruling which imposed the penalty of dismissal from the service together with seven (7) other former Capitol officials, following the criminal and administrative cases related to the contracting of lights and sounds for the Philippine Tourism Expo held in 2020 in Panglao, Bohol.
According to the petitioner, Yap’s assumption as a party-list representative in Congress is void ab initio because the penalty of perpetual disqualification has been imposed on him and therefore he does not have the legal personality to assume the position of congressman.
The petitioner further alleged that Yap made fraudulent and false representations in his nomination as the First Nominee of the Murang Kuryente party list, urging the HRET to dismiss him and allow Murang Kuryente’s second nominee to assume the position illegally held by Yap.