He said Judge Winlove Dumayas of the Makati Regional Trial Court branch 50 issued an order on December 11, to allow Misuair to register as voter in Jolo.
“Hence, today, my office is facilitating his Jolo trip in compliance with the said court order,” Dureza said.
The Commission on Elections, he said. “ruled that registration should be done in person by the applicant himself and in the very municipality where he resides and intends to vote. Misuari’s earlier request to register at Intramuros, Manila, was turned down by the Comelec, hence the trip.
“We are not privy to or involved in Chairman Misuari’s future poltical plans, if any. Our participation now is only to uphold and ensure the exercise of his right to suffrage.
It was Misuari’s first homecoming since he left Sulu in late November 2001. He is presently facing charges of rebellion for allegedly leading an uprising in Sulu and in Zambaonga City in late November 2001.
Misuari through his lawyer Artur Lim, asked the court on November 14 to allow him to register as voter at the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in Jolo, Sulu or its main office in Manila, claiming his name was stricken off the list in Jolo. Misuari’s detention pending trial, his lawyer said, “ should not bar him from exercising his right to vote or even to run for public office.”
Misuari registered as voter weeks before he signed the Final Peace Agreement on September 2, 1996. He was arrested in Sabah in late November 2001 and was brought to Fort Sto. Domingo in Sta. Rosa Laguna on January 7, 2002 in the “detention bungalow” earlier prepared for ousted president Joseph Estrada where he stayed until his transfer to the St. Luke’s Hospital and later to a house near it, early this year.
Misuari said his name was stricken off the voters’ list in Jolo for allegedly failing to vote in the May 2004 national elections and August 2005 ARMM elections.
Randolph Parcasio, one of Misuari’s legal counsels, told MindaNews, the Comelec main office did not allow Misuari to register, hence the registration in Jolo.