Bacong Mayor Lenin Alviola won the hotly-contested election to win last Wednesday the presidency of the League of Municipalities in the Philippines – Negros Oriental Chapter.
Alviola obtained nine votes to win over rival Siaton Mayor Fritz Diaz, who got seven votes.
Dauin Mayor Galicano Truita was elected vice president; Sta. Catalina Mayor Peve Ligan, secretary; Zamboanguita Mayor Glenson Alanano, treasurer; Bindoy Mayor Ike Amorganda, auditor; Manjuyod Mayor Felix Sy, PRO; and Tayasan Mayor Susano Ruperto Jr., and Ayungon Mayor Erwin Agustino as members of the Board of Directors.
Alviola said he sought the cooperation of all Mayors so they could discuss their issues and concerns as a group.
Prior to the election, Pamplona Mayor Janice Degamo questioned the participation of Vallerhermoso Vice Mayor Oliver Bongoyan in the proceedings. Bongoyan had assumed as acting mayor of the northern town of Vallehermoso following the preventive suspension of Mayor Mary Ann Gustilo.
She said only municipal mayors are eligible to vote in the LMP, citing a provision of the LMP Election Guidelines which states that “the Provincial Chapter officers shall be elected from among the municipal mayors present through proper nomination”.
In the event a mayor cannot attend the election, he or she can be represented by the vice mayor or a member of the Sangguniang Bayan (Municipal Council) duly designated through a resolution for such purpose.
However, the municipality’s representative other than the mayor will not be allowed to vote in the election for the officers of the chapter nor can be voted upon.
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For Mayor Reynaldo Tuanda of Jimalalud, the only lawyer-mayor in the Province, he said that all rights and powers and prerogatives of the mayor under preventive suspension are taken over by the vice mayor, being the acting mayor.
“To my mind, Bongoyan can participate in this election, and has the right to vote,” Tuanda said.
The Department of the Interior & Local Government, represented by Farah Gentuya, meanwhile, said they are not authorized to issue legal opinions at the level of the province and the region.
She said that as a Mayors’ League, they have their own by-laws to interpret.
The issues were later resolved after the national representative of the LMP, Joseph Castejon, told the body that it was the opinion of their national office that the election committee should decide whether to allow the Vice Mayor to vote or not.
The election committee, composed of La Libertad Mayor Emmanuel Iway, Mayor Degamo, and Valencia Mayor Edgar Teves, had to make a decision through voting.
Iway and Teves voted to allow the Vice Mayor to cast a ballot, while Janice stood her ground.
She said she was upset that despite the clarity of the provisions, the LMP guidelines were circumvented and thus, lost their purpose. “It seems to me that if it fits a purpose, it is okay to circumvent the law,” she lamented. (Juancho Gallarde)
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