Voters accuse councilman of "deception"

CEBU, Philippines – Barangay Kalunasan, Cebu City seems to be a favorite destination of controversies these days.

After the complaints on substandard projects, some residents of barangay Kalunasan are now crying foul over an alleged deception made by their outgoing councilman, Aldwin Famador.

They accuse Famador of leading the people to believe that he ran for reelection last October 25 when it was actually his younger sister who filed a certificate of candidacy (COC) before the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

All the while, residents thought they were throwing their support for Aldwin Famador and not Diocel Famador who tactically used "Aldwin" as her nickname in the COC.

Residents discovered the "misrepresentation" only after the election.

Lawyer Marchel Sarno, election officer for Cebu City, said that residents might have no choice but to charge everything to experience as there is no immediate action they may take against the incumbent councilman.

They can, however, file a petition for recall against Diocel which they may file only a year after the candidate's proclamation.

Comelec rules allow a complainant to file a case for misrepresentation only five days after the filing of the COC.

"Unya nalapas naman. Their option now is ang pag-recall, but after one year pa," Sarno said.

On the other hand, if residents have sufficient evidence, they may file an estafa case before the court.

Jovy Lopez, a defeated candidate for councilman, said that they are currently consulting a lawyer on what appropriate action they may take against Aldwin and Diocel.

"Giilad gyud niya ang mga tawo. And iyang gisulti sa mga tawo, siya ang midagan so siya ang gibutaran. Diha na nahibawan pagkahuman nga ang iya diay'ng igsoon ang nidagan," Lopez said.

Diocel along with other elected officials in Kalunasan took oath before Mayor Michael Rama yesterday.

Aldwin, in an interview before the oath taking, said that long before the filing of COC, the residents already knew of his intention to run for the same position.

But unfortunately during the whole duration of the filing of COC, he was in Leyte to work on things and clear his name of issues that were used against him during the past election.

"I miscalculated the time so I was not able to come back on time to file my COC. Ingun among lawyer na ipa-file lang nako ang bisag unsa nga akong gisaligan so akong sister ang akong gipa-file sa Comelec," Aldwin said.

He admitted that they did not correct people's speculation but insisted that his sister penetrated only the leaders due to time constraints. Candidates were only given 10 days to campaign.

Campaign posters bearing Aldwin's photo were also not removed. But he said that his sister printed her own posters which the complainants refuted and insisted that there was not even a single poster with Diocel's photo.

Marvin Leyson, elected second councilman, confirmed that they received a lot of complaints from residents about this alleged deception but said that they will allow the Comelec to resolve the matter. (FREEMAN)