ALIAGA, Nueva Ecija –
This town now has two mayors.
This after the camps
of Mayor Elizabeth Vargas and her rival, court-declared Mayor Reynaldo Ordanes
both declared their hold on the mayorship, triggering a leadership crisis.
Vargas, who was unseated 10 days ago in an order issued by Regional
Trial Court Branch 30 Judge Virgilio Caballero which proclaimed Ordanes by a
scant 11 votes, urged her townmates to respect the mandate given by
constituents, and maintained she is still the mayor.
In a streamer hanging in front of the municipal compound,
Vargas ended her message with the words “patuloy na naglilingkod (continuously
serve),” to indicate she is still in charge.
The Vargas camp circulated a supposed copy of a Temporary
Restraining Order (TRO) issued by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) En Banc
enjoining Caballero to cease and desist from enforcing and/or implementing or
continuing to enforce and implement his June 19 issuance of a writ of execution
of his decision pending appeal and Ordanes to cease and desist from assuming
the post of mayor.
Ordanes’ camp has initially dismissed the TRO, saying it
was fake since it was only signed by Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes and not
the commissioners.
The supposed Brillantes order, dated September 23, was
later stamped with the words “fake po to (it was fake).”
Ordanes, in a text message, said he is still the legitimate
mayor, adding that by next week, Brillantes’ TRO would be suspended.
Last week, Ordanes was declared duly elected winner in the
May 2013 elections, ending the Vargas’ 22-year stranglehold in this town.
Ordanes, an ally of
the Joson’s Nationalist People’s Coalition,
was installed after Cabanatuan City RTC
Branch 30 deputy sheriff Victoria Roque served the writ of execution
issued by Caballero to Vargas at the town hall where she holed herself last week.
Ordanes, a brother of Quezon City assessor Rodolfo Ordanes,
has been holding office in his residential compound “to keep the peace.”
Vargas, a four-term mayor and wife of former three-term
mayor Marcial Vargas, was proclaimed winner by the municipal board of
canvassers last year, garnering 11,477 votes to Ordanes’ 11,413, or a scant
margin of 64 votes.
However, Ordanes filed
an election protest before the RTC which examined the votes.
Last
May 28, the court voided 72 of Vargas’ votes. It also ruled that three of
Ordanes’ votes, which were rejected by the precinct count optical scan (PCOS)
machines , were valid, bringing his vote total to 11,416 while Vargas’ votes
were reduced to 11,405 votes after the 72 votes were deducted from her tally,
prompting the court to declare Ordanes winner by a plurality of 11 votes.
The
June 19 writ of execution was withheld on July 15 after the Comelec issued a
TRO enjoining it to cease and desist from enforcing its order for a 60-day
period. The TRO expired last September 16, prompting the court to issue another
order dated September 17 implementing the writ.
In
its September 17 order, the court said Vargas has not produced any evidence to
defend her position.
