Petition for recall filed vs. Bani officials
A PETITION for the recall has been initiated by the town’s mayor, Marcelo Navarro Jr., for alleged “loss of confidence” against seven members of the Sangguniang bayan of Bani.
The seven, who compose the majority of the council under the Lakas-Kampi party, are Vice Mayor Filipina Rivera, who sits as council chair, and Councilors Gwen Yamamoto, Ruben Ampler, Rosalinda Asena and Tamerlene Olores and two others.
Rivera, who spoke at the ‘Meet the Press’ forum of the Pangasinan Tri-Media Association last week attended by the four other SB members as well, said “we leave our fate to the people”.
The SB members said they do not deserve to be recalled because they have not been remiss in their duties.
Navarro, a retired police general and on his second term of office under the Liberal Party, charged that members of the majority of the council “are doing nothing and are hampering the growth and prosperity of the town of Bani due to politics.”
POLITICS OR LOAN?
Yamamoto, the most outspoken of the group, suspects that the petition for recall was triggered by the refusal of the SB to approve a measure authorizing Navarro to withdraw the P70 million approved loan from the Land Bank of the Philippines.
“We have enacted all measures proposed by the executive except a resolution authorizing the mayor to withdraw the loan of the town from the Land Bank,” Yamamoto said.
The loan was approved by the previous SB but it needs an authorization from the new SB for the mayor to withdraw the amount.
The loan will fund three projects: P55 million for the construction of the town’s public market, P10 million for the reconstruction of the municipal hall and P5 million for construction of a new cemetery.
Yamamoto said she and six others did not grant the authority because the mayor refused to submit the feasibility study and design of the market despite their repeated requests.
BANI’S ELECTED OFFICIALS UP FOR ‘RECALL’
IF a political dialogue fails, the voters of Bani town may be asked to troop back to the polls to elect its new set of officials – mayor, vice mayor and ten councilors.
This became a possibility as the five majority members of the Sanggunian Bayan of Bani town have decided to retaliate against the move taken by their mayor, Marcelo Navarro Jr., to unseat them by initiating their own recall petition against the mayor and his party mates.
The five, Vice Mayor Filipina Rivera, who sits as council chair, and Councilors Gwen Yamamoto, Ruben Ampler, Rosalinda Asena and Tamerlene Olores, are facing a similar recall petition initiated by the mayor.
Vice-Mayor Filipina Rivera, speaking in an interview over Aksyon Radyo Dagupan on Thursday, that she and the four councilors are countering the petition being filed against them with the same action.
Rivera said her party would soon start collecting signatures from the residents for the recall of Navarro and Councilors William Aquino, John Paul Navarro, Sesinando Estabillo and Marianito Castelo on the grounds of “loss of trust and confidence.”
Provincial Election Supervisor Temmie Lambino of the Commission on Election in Pangasinan has confirmed that a petition for recall needs the approval of 20 percent of the total 26,000 who voted in the last election.
The election office in Bani will check its records for the integrity of the signature campaign.
Councilor Cothera Gwen Yamamoto, who is on the side of Rivera, said some people have called for a “total recall”, which means all elected officials of Bani.
If the recall pushes thru, former mayoralty bet Facundo “Boying” Palafox Jr. will be pitted against Navarro.–(PIA-Pangasinan)
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