Death of mayor-elect causes impasse in N. Vizcaya town

SOLANO, Nueva Vizcaya — So who really is this town’s mayor?

Residents of this premier Nueva Vizcaya municipality are still at a loss as to who is really their mayor now. This, after two "mayors" — lawyer Philip Dacayo and former board member Santiago Dickson — both claim to be the rightful one.

With the impasse, neither one could discharge the functions of a mayor, thus putting the operations of the municipal government at a standstill.

Dacayo was sworn into office by no less than Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairman Benjamin Abalos in Manila last June 30.

Dacayo said he was assuming the post based on the Comelec’s June 30 resolution which affirmed his candidacy as a substitute for his father, the late Mayor Heraldo Dacayo.

"The Comelec, which is the final arbiter of the case, has spoken. We must abide by it," he said.

The elder Dacayo died on May 14, a day after he was proclaimed mayor-elect, along with Dickson. Both belong to the Lakas-CMD (Christian-Muslim Democrats).

But Dickson, who was proclaimed vice mayor-elect in the recent elections, said he was taking over the mayorship by virtue of the law of succession.

He said the death of the elder Dacayo qualifies him to assume the mayoral post.

Both Dacayo and Dickson, however, vowed not to give in, with the former armed with a Comelec resolution and the latter claiming to have the concurrence of the Department of the Interior and Local Government.

The two, however, gave assurances that they would fight it out in a peaceful and legal manner.

Dacayo, by virtue of the Comelec resolution, took his oath of office at about 10:30 a.m. on June 30 at the Comelec central office in Manila.

Despite this, Dickson, along with Helen Dacayo, the number one councilor-elect, went on to take their oaths of office as mayor and vice mayor, respectively, before Regional Trial Court Executive Judge Jose Rosales at the town’s gymnasium before noon of the same day.

The young Dacayo’s oathtaking came after the poll body ruled in favor of his certificate of candidacy as a substitute for his father.

"The withdrawing candidate (Heraldo Dacayo), being the official candidate of the Lakas-CMD, can be validly substituted by a person belonging to or nominated by Lakas-CMD. The certificate of acceptance of Philip Dacayo as substitute candidate disclosed that (it has) been duly accomplished in form and substance," the two-page Comelec Resolution No. 7259 stated.

Aside from Abalos, Comelec Commissioners Rufino Javier, Mehol Sadain, Resurreccion Borra and Florentino Tuason Jr. also signed the resolution.

But Dickson, along with two losing mayoralty bets — former mayor Epifanio Galima and former vice mayor Wilson Salas — vowed to contest the Comelec resolution.

"The (Comelec) resolution is not complete because it is only an acceptance of nomination of a substitute candidate," said Salas, who took over as mayor after the death of the elder Dacayo.

Salas has a pending petition with the Supreme Court for the holding of special elections as a result of the elder Dacayo’s death.

But Salas, Galima and human rights lawyer Ernesto Salunat have also questioned the legality of Dickson’s assumption of the mayoral post.

They argued that the law of succession could not be applied in Dickson’s case because he had not officially taken over as vice mayor when the elder Dacayo died. — Charlie Lagasca