Recall vs. 5 Bani officials started
BANI—Some 7,453 residents here signed a petition for the recall of five elected municipal officials, representing more than the minimum 20 percent signatories required by law to warrant its filing before the Commission on Elections (Comelec)
The number was announced during a People’s Forum held at the town’s covered court on Thursday morning.
The forum, attended by about 300 residents, was intended as a preparatory activity for the filing of the petition that day.
However, the petition could not be officially filed because Municipal Election Officer, Amelia Olores and her assistant Malou Apolento, were in the office to receive the petition.
The office clerks manning the office refused to receive the petition without an authorization.
Marcelo Tugas, barangay chairman of Garritaq and one of the signatories to the petition, suspected that Olores intentionally went on leave to avoid performing her duty to receive the petition because her husband, Sangguniang Bayan (SB) Member Tamerlene Olores, is among the respondents of the recall petition.
It was learned later she attended a Comelec meeting in Dagupan City that discussed reshuffle of Comelec municipal officers.
The other respondents are Vice Mayor Filipinas Rivera, and SB Members Rosalinda Acenas, Ruben Ampler and Cothera Gwen Palafox Yamomoto.
The basis for the recall is “loss of confidence as they are unproductive and anti-progress”.
A similar recall petition, also based on “loss of confidence”, was also filed by Rivera and the SB members against Mayor Marcelo Navarro Jr.
This counter-petition is currently the subject for signatures among the town’s electorate.
A lawyer of the petitioner, Gerpy Erguiza, told newsmen Thursday noon that they initially planned on filing the petition before the Provincial Elections Office in Dagupan City but later changed plans and instead sent a fax message to the provincial elections office requesting the latter to direct Olores to report to her office the next day (June 24) to officially receive the petition.
The people’s forum was also attended by Mayor Marcelo Navarro Jr. and SB Members Sesenando Estabillo, John Paul Navarro, Wilhelm Camba Aquino and Marichu Navarro Natividad, chairman of the Liga ng mga Barangay federation.
Navarro has accused the vice mayor, who sits as chairman of the SB, and the four SB members of holding back development projects by blocking major proposed ordinances due to political reasons.
FEASIBILITY STUDY
One of the main issues cited involved the SB’s denial of a proposed resolution authorizing Mayor Navarro to withdraw a P70 million loan of the municipality from the Land Bank of the Philippines to finance the construction of a public market, a cemetery and the renovation of the town hall.
Navarro said the vice mayor’s group insisted on seeing the feasibility study of the market project before approving the resolution authorizing him to withdraw the approved loan.
Navarro admitted that the projects have no feasibility study since it is costly and was not required by the lending bank.
But since Rivera’s group asked for it, Navarro said the town council must appropriate money to undertake the feasibility study.
Navarro also accused Rivera and her allies of “blocking Bani’s progress” as they did not approve a request for a resolution seeking the release of P600,000 allocated to the town earlier by Senator Miguel Zubiri from his pork barrel to finance a road project.
The fund reportedly has been released to the Department of Public Works and Highways but the municipal government could not use it without the required authorization from the sanggunian.
The vice mayor declined to further comment and simply reiterated her statement before a recent forum in Dagupan hosted by the Pangasinan Tri-Media Association.
In that forum, Rivera asserted that she and the majority in the sanggunian are simply doing their job and that they would leave their fate to the people of Bani.
RECONCILIATION
Meanwhile, Pangasinan Board Member Teofilo Humilde Jr. has offered to help mediate between the opposing parties.
“Maraming masasayang na opportunity kung hindi sila magre-reconcile,” Humilde said, adding that the reconciliation will benefit the town.
“Mananalo ang mga taga-Bani, hindi tulad ngayon na talagang talo,” he stressed.
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