Danao politics in 2011 Brothers' fight reaches Comelec

CEBU, Philippines - The feuding Durano brothers, whose family has ruled Danao City politics for generations, have taken their quarrel to the Comelec as a petition for recall had been filed.

Danao City Vice Mayor Ramon “Nito” Durano III and his brother, Mayor Ramon “Boy” Durano, Jr., pooled their financial resources and ran against another brother, former Danao City mayor Jesus “Don” Durano, who allegedly wanted to remain at city hall after the last May 10, 2010 elections.

Both Nito and Boy and all members of their slate won against the group of Don Durano.

Three months after they assumed office on July 1, 2010, a conflict ensued between the camp of Mayor Boy Durano and Vice Mayor Nito Durano over the affairs at city hall.

Charges and counter-charges were filed at the Danao City Prosecutor’s Office and the cases were elevated to the Regional Trial Court.

Church and court officials in Danao City tried to reconcile the Durano brothers, hoping to convince them to settle their differences for the good of the people, but failed.

Vice Mayor Durano filed before the Commission on Elections (Comelec) a petition for recall against his elder brother and namesake Mayor Durano, Jr.

The vice mayor was mayor for three terms and ran as vice mayor in the May 2010 elections.

The vice mayor presented to the Comelec a copy of a petition signed by 31,000 residents of the city and the reason for filling the petition.

Recall of an elected official is provided under Republic Act No. 7160 otherwise known as the Local Government Code of 1991.

This process is in turn implemented under Comelec Resolution No. 7505 promulgated on June 6, 2005.

Section 12 of the resolution mandates the election officer to make a prior determination of whether or not the required percentage or total number of signatories has been attained based on the certification on voting population issued by the National Statistics Office and upon compliance with all the requirements prescribed in Section 10 thereof.

The camp of Mayor Durano said that it welcomed the filing of the petition for recall.

Mayor Durano said he has the support of majority of the people of the city, which has been the bailiwick of their family since the 1960s.

Mayor Durano has the support of his brother and former Danao City Mayor Jesus “Don” Durano.

The vice mayor’s son, Cebu fifth district Rep. Ramon Durano VI, who joined his father in filing the petition, admitted that the latest development may affect further the relationship between them and his uncle, Mayor Durano.

There are a total of 78,972 voters in Danao City.

The petition for a recall election also included a number of reasons.

Among the reasons are the alleged delay in the release of salaries of casual and job order employees of the city and the delay in the release of allowances for barangay health workers, barangay nutrition councilors, and the barangay tanods.

Vice Mayor Durano had told reporters that he and members of the city council, including the presidents of the Sangguniang Kabataan Federation and the Association of Barangay Councils, had decided to initiate the recall because his brother abandoned his promises during the campaign period.

Thirty six out of 42 barangay captains in the city adopted a resolution expressing their loss of confidence in the administration of Mayor Durano and supporting the people’s clamor for the recall of the mayor.

He also accused the mayor of ruling over the city like a “despotic warlord” reminiscent of the Martial Law years.

At the onset, the councilors said the budget preparation itself was already legally flawed because it did not originally emanate from the Local Development Council as mandated by law since such body has never been convened.

They said it is clearly a manifestation of gross incompetence or failure of governance.

The council also accused Mayor Durano of allowing outsiders to meddle in the affairs at city hall, including those that, under the law, should only be performed by accountable officers.

An example is the alleged screening or hiring of regular, casual or job order employees being done at a house located along Mabini Street in barangay Poblacion.

They also accused Mayor Durano of failing to stop the problems of illegal drugs and illegal gambling and that the persons behind these are closely identified with him.

The council also alleged that the mayor transferred or terminated the services of some employees during the campaign period for the barangay elections last year.

Those allegedly affected had been working in the city government for more than five years.

Mayor Durano is also accused of employing threats, intimidation or undue influence on barangay officials during the elections last year and using the same scheme up to the present.

Those who stood firm on their principles or personal convictions, the complaint said, were denied financial and material assistance for the residents in their barangays.

The council further alleged there was no consultation with the barangay officials for the selection of barangay nutrition scholars.

They also accused Mayor Durano of removing and placing the head of the Human Resource Management Office on a floating status and designating an officer in charge.

Another alleged violation is Mayor Durano’s failure to implement the resolutions and ordinances approved by the Sangguniang Panlungsod.

The camp of Vice Mayor Durano also accused Mayor Durano of appointing persons to significant positions despite their lack of qualifications.

Saddened

Cebu Vice Governor Agnes Magpale is saddened by the petition for recall.

“I feel sad personally, both are my relatives,” Magpale told reporters. Magpale is a cousin of the Durano brothers.

Magpale lamented that there were many attempts to reconcile the brothers, but never succeeded.

She said Nito was willing to compromise with Boy in the reappointment of city hall casual employees who were appointed in the previous term when Nito was the mayor but the other party refused.

With the present situation in Danao City, Magpale said the delivery of basic services has been stalled.

Majority of the barangay captains are also allied with Nito’s group.

Magpale said that even the department heads at the city hall are also divided.

Sufficient

The Comelec has issued a resolution certifying the sufficiency of the petition for recall filed by Vice Mayor Durano against Mayor Durano Jr.

With the resolution of the Comelec en banc dated July 26 and signed by Comelec chairman Sixto Brillantes and six commissioners, the election office in Danao City will now start the verification of the names of the list of voters.

Provincial Election Supervisor Lionel Marco Castillano said they were ordered to inform both parties of the resolution and set the date of the verification of the names used in the petition if they are on the list of voters of Danao City and also their respective signatures.

According to Castillano, after their verification of the list of voters and signatures, they will submit their report to the Comelec office in Manila.

Based of their report, as the results of their verification, the Comelec En Banc would set the schedule of the recall elections.

The Comelec requires at least 15 percent of the voters to sign a recall petition for it to be given due course.

Recall mess stalling water deal with MCWD

The contract signed by the Metropolitan Cebu Water District and the Danao City government that is supposed to give an additional income of P153 million for the city cannot be implemented yet due to the ongoing political conflict.

MCWD chairman Armando Paredes said the contract signed by MCWD and Danao City has to be ratified first by the council.

MCWD and Danao City inked the contract on May 18, 2011 for the latter to supply 20,000 cubic meters of water per day that will benefit 15,000 households in some parts of Mandaue, Mactan, and barangay Pit-os in Cebu City.

The mayor had said the city expects to earn P153 million per year which will be used to lower Danao City’s water rates, among others.

But the irony is that the delay of the implementation of the city’s bulk water project with MCWD was among the reasons cited by the vice mayor and the council for a recall election.

The mayor denied this, contending he too wants this project to proceed as this would mean an additional income for the city.

The P450-million bulk water project is funded by the World Bank.

Under the contract, Danao City, sourcing its bulk water supply from Rangon River in barangay Sta. Rosa, will supply to MCWD’s injection point in barangay Jubay, Liloan town a minimum of 10,000 cubic meters of water per day for six months.

In the seventh to the twelfth month, the supply will increase to a minimum of 15,000 cubic meters of water per day. In the thirteenth month and beyond, it will be at a minimum of 20,000 cubic meters of water per day.

It is also stipulated in the contract that Danao City will be liable to pay penalties if it fails to meet the minimum required volume per day as MCWD may also request for an increase in supply from the city.

MCWD will pay for the water delivered by Danao City at a fixed rate at P21 per cubic meter.

Counter-petition for recall filed against Vice Mayor Durano and Councilors

Mayor Durano and his brother, former mayor and now City Administrator Jesus “Don” Durano, are fighting back against their younger brother, Vice Mayor Durano, and filed a recall petition against him and nine members of the city council for loss of confidence.

Mayor Durano and Don, accompanied by lawyer Gloria Dalawampu and their supporters, went to the Danao City Comelec office and filed the recall petition with 33,000 signatures from residents of the 42 barangays in the city.

Aside from Nito, those included in the petition were city councilors Carmen Remedios Meca, Miguel Antonio Magpale, Jorge John Cane, Jose Thaddeus Roble Jr., Cynthia Duterte, Alejandro Lawas, Marilou Camaongay-Flores, Roland Reyes, and Jovelina Enriquez.

Councilor Jesus Meca was not included in the recall petition for health reasons.

In his petition for recall, the mayor said that just a few days after their assumption to office, Nito and other councilors conspired to approve ordinances and resolutions which encroached on the powers and prerogatives of the mayor.

Nito and city councilors allegedly approved a resolution declaring the city training center of the executive department as the new legislative building despite the objection of the mayor.

The vice mayor was also accused of signing 111 disbursement vouchers and 91 checks of the city charged to the general fund, over the name, “Ramon D. Durano Jr., City Mayor” without the mayor’s knowledge and consent.

The vice mayor and city councilors, the mayor said, also violated existing rules and regulations by creating more than 200 positions for casual employees, emergency and job order employees which are not operable.

COMELEC junks recall vs Nito

But the Comelec en banc junked the recall petition filed by Mayor Durano and his brother, city administrator Durano, against Vice Mayor Durano and nine members of the city council.

The poll commissioners had found that the petition, filed on the basis of loss of confidence, was “insufficient” because it failed to comply with the requirements.

The four-page resolution of the Comelec dated September 13, 2011 was signed by Comelec chairman Sixto S. Brillantes and Commissioners Rene V. Sarmiento, Armando Velasco, Christian Robert Lim, Lucenito Tagle, Elias Yusoph, and Augusto Lagman.

The Comelec resolution was based on a memorandum dated September 1, and another dated Sept. 7, of Deputy Executive Director for Operations Bartolome J. Sino Cruz, Jr.

But the camp of Mayor Boy Durano filed motion for reconsideration before the Comelec central office.

January election

The camp of Vice Mayor Durano hopes the Comelec will set the recall election against Mayor Durano this month.

Danao City Councilor John Cane said they expect the Comelec to issue a resolution denying the petition for reconsideration.

He said the mayor’s camp filed baseless motions even though they did not attend the hearing of the case scheduled last Nov. 3 in Manila.

Cane said once the Comelec rejects with finality the motion of Mayor Durano, a recall election may be held this month. -/CGG (FREEMAN)