The quest for the governorship of Negros Oriental has been reduced to a waiting game.
Both Gov. Pryde Henry Teves and Gov. Roel Degamo, insisting on their respective legal rights to the Office of the Governor, are staying put in their positions—Teves at the Provincial Capitol, and Degamo at the Provincial Police headquarters in Agan-an, Sibulan.
Attempts by the Department of Interior & Local Government to “guide and assist” in the peaceful transition from Teves to Degamo got nowhere as DILG Regional Director Leocadio Trovela did not have explicit authority from DILG Sec. Benjamin Abalos to remove Governor Teves from office, and install Governor Degamo in his stead.
Teves has insisted on waiting for the Supreme Court’s session this Tuesday, where they will address the issue on the gubernatorial row in Negros Oriental.
Degamo, on the other hand, has ordered the Civil Aviation Authority to prohibit helicopters from landing at the Capitol grounds. The order has been wantonly disobeyed by a helicopter-flying Congressman, who even challenged Degamo last Friday to settle this row with a fistfight.
The standoff is putting provincial officials and employees in a quandary as to whom to follow and obey. To their credit, the government employees, who are mandated to be neutral, have been doing a good job in ensuring that the delivery of public services goes on unhampered.
Meanwhile, the question on everyone’s minds remains: Who will blink first?
