The Supreme Court (SC) approved the merger of dominant parties Lakas – CMD and Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (Kampi), denying the bid of former House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. to nullify the merger.

The merger was approved by the High Court in a minute resolution signed on December 16, 2009.

The SC denied the petition of Pangasinan Representative de Venecia Jr. seeking to void a resolution rendered by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) which upheld the merger of the parties.

In denying Rep. de Venecia’s petition, the Court cited as ground the “failure of the petition to sufficiently show that any grave abuse of discretion was committed by the Comelec in rendering the challenged resolution.”

“The petition of Rep. de Venecia also failed in technical tests under the Rules of Court through “non-submission of proof of service of the petition on adverse parties, failure to give an explanation why service was not done personally and failure to state material date showing when notice of judgment, final order or resolution subject of the petition was received to show that the petition was filed on time” said the SC.

The High Tribunal noted the Comelec resolution “appears to be in accord with the facts and applicable laws and jurisprudence.”

It would be recalled that De Venecia Jr. filed a petition before the Comelec last September, questioning the legality of the merger.

But the election body ruled in favor of the merger and gave it accreditation as the majority party for the 2010 election.

This prompted the former House Speaker to file a petition before the SC last Nov. 23, to nullify the merger. He asked the High Court to issue an order “directing the
Comelec to order the cancellation of the registration of Lakas – Kampi - CMD as a political party and restoring the status of Lakas - CMD as a registered political party with all its rights and privileges as the dominant majority party.”

Through lawyer Amado Valdez, he alleged that the registration of the merger as a political party violated Article XVI of the Lakas – CMD constitution and by-laws, which provides that any amendment, revision or substitution is subject to the ratification and validation by the majority of the votes cast by all of the party's national assembly members in good standing and present at a national congress called for the purpose not earlier than 60 days nor later than one under 120 from its adoption.