B’gay league president loses in federation polls

GASAN, Marinduque – After 10 years of ruling the Liga ng mga Barangay, a federation of the country’s almost 42,000 barangay captains, incumbent president James Marty Lim was roundly defeated in the federation elections in his home chapter in Gasan, Marinduque.

With his defeat in the nationwide synchronized municipal and component city Liga chapter elections last Tuesday, Lim automatically loses his position as the holdover LIGA president, a post he could have held until the forthcoming national Liga elections on Jan. 29, 2008.

Rolando Tolentino, barangay captain of Bacongbacong, Gasan town, garnered 14 out of 25 barangay captain votes to upset Lim in a hotly contested election hounded by widespread reports of harassment, threats, vote buying and withholding of financial records to deny voting rights to some captains aligned with Tolentino.

These reports prompted the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) to take extra precautions to supervise the Gasan municipal elections.

“We had to ensure both the safety of the voter-captains and the sanctity of the ballot. With God’s grace and early preparation, our team, together with the Philippine National Police, was able to achieve both,” said Undersecretary for Local Government Austere Panadero.

“Our local field officers in Marinduque reported early last week that Lim had been making efforts to conduct parallel elections together with his 10 other captain supporters. They even issued a separate notice of election for 2 p.m., which was a different time from the DILG official time of 8 a.m.,” Panadero said.

“It was only through a timely issued department memorandum that we warned all concerned that only the election conducted through the supervision of the DILG would be officially recognized by law,” he added.

Under the Local Government Code, Liga elections must be duly supervised by the DILG, with the winner going on to represent the Liga as a member of the municipal council, city council or provincial board.

“That is the main reason why Liga elections are so important. A lot of power and prestige is at stake since there will be perks and privileges awaiting the winner in their respective new positions,” said Atty. Emeterio Moreno, director of legal services of the DILG.

“Our field officers simply helped implement the law and allowed the majority voice to be heard.  Dapat pantay ang laban, no party should be allowed to bully the other,” Moreno said.

Under the watchful eyes of the canvassing board made up of the Comelec and representatives of non-government organizations, Tolentino was proclaimed at around 9:30 a.m. Lim and his 10 supporters did not show up.

Under his 10-year reign, Lim was linked to alleged scams such as the P50-million anti-SARS fund which was allegedly used to buy flat-screen television sets and mountain bikes instead of medicine.

Another alleged scam was the P31.2-million Local Government Service Equalization Fund (LGSEF) where P744 was diverted from each of the almost 42,000 barangays and allegedly deposited in Lim’s bank account in Gasan.