For making a mockery of election laws, former Tagbilaran City mayor Dan Lim and two of his cohorts may face imprisonment for up to six years after the Commission on Elections (Comelec) has approved the filing of criminal charges against the three for alleged violation of the Omnibus Election Code. The offense is not subject to probation. The decision of the Comelec would deal a heavy blow, and it could sound the death knell, to the political adventures of the former top tenant of City Hall whose defeat of his wife, Dr. Sharleen Lim, in the Nov. 25 special barangay election saw him packing his political belongings and possibly into retirement from politics. Reacting to the latest decision of the Comelec, lawyer Lord “Popot” Marapao IV, counsel for complainant Provincial Administrator Alfonso “Ae” Damalerio II, welcomed the decision of the Comelec, saying “it could be the beginning of the end of the political career of Dan Lim.”

“There is light at the end of the tunnel although nobody knows if the light is that of an oncoming train out to overrun us ,” Marapao said. “We never gave up in pursuing justice even though the election had passed.” As if the series of political misfortunes that battered Lim's life, starting with the sweeping debacle of all his Bag-ong Bol-anon's candidates in the May 13 elections, are not enough, his latest tussle with the law showed his vulnerability now that he is out of power. According to a joint resolution of the regional Comelec based in Cebu and signed by regional election attorney Enerio Ocariza Jr., Lim and radio broadcasters Ted Ayeng and Lito Responte had violated provisions of the Republic Act No. 9006 or the Fair Elections Act and Comelec Resolution No. 9615. If proven guilty, Lim could face perpetual disqualification from holding public office and he would also be stripped of his right to vote. As part of the collateral damage, Ayeng and Responte, if proven guilty in the Regional Trial Court (RTC), would also be stripped of their license to engage in radio broadcast, and their radio station, DYTR, could also lose its franchise to operate here.

Ayeng was the co-anchorman of the ex-mayor's weekly program, Ang Mayor sa Dakbayan, used to be aired every Saturday morning over radio station DYTR. Responte is the general manager of DYTR. Before the 2013 election, Lim, despite being the city mayor, had been acting as the main anchor of the said radio program. When Lim filed his certificate of candidacy to challenge incumbent First District Rep. Rene Relampagos in the May 2013 elections, the ex-mayor was deemed resign from his usual media ranting over DYTR as mandated by Comelec Resolution No. 9615. But according to the Comelec, Lim “blatantly ignored specific provisions of law concerning the Fair Elections Act.” Section 32 of Comelec Resolution 9165 states that “Any mass media columnist, commentator, announcer, reporter, on-air correspondent, or personality who is a candidate for any elective public office, a party-list nominee, or is a campaign volunteer for or employed or retained in any capacity by any candidate or party shall be deemed resigned, if so required by their employer, or shall take a leave of absence from his/her work as such during the campaign period…”

Election offense, under Section 35 of the same resolution, provides that “any violation of RA 9006 and these Rules shall constitute an election offense punishable under the first and second paragraph of Section 264 of the Omnibus Election Code in addition to administrative liability, whenever applicable…” All over the Philippines, it was only in Bohol that a media personality, in the person of ex-mayor Lim, who continued handling a radio program despite the fact that he was a candidate for an elective position. Lim and Ayeng, however, argued that their program was a block-time purchased by the National People's Coalition (NPC) for the promotion of the party's candidates in the May 2013 elections. But the Comelec said such reasoning was immaterial to the case because the issue boiled down to the fact that ex-mayor Lim was a political candidate, and the Comelec had banned him from involving in media-related activities. The Comelec had considered ex-mayor Lim as a “media practitioner” since he was performing “similar functions” of a professional radio broadcaster. The Comelec also said that Responte should be held responsible for allowing the two to continue broadcasting despite Comelec ban.

Responte argued that the program was not station-produced but a block-time program in which a disclaimer is aired before and after the program. The intro disclaimer goes like this: “Mga higala, ang mosunod nga programa usa ka binayran. Ang mga opinion og komentaryo nga ipadayag iya lang sa magsisibya ug walay labot ang estasyon,” while the exit disclaimer says: “Ang programa nga inyong nabati usa ka binayran. Ang mga opinion og komentaryo nga gipadayag iya lang sa magsisibya ug walay labot ang estasyon.” But the Comelec said the disclaimer does not hold water on Responte's defense.