Pangasinan town vice mayor, 4 dads face recall

BANI, Pangasinan, Philippines  – The recall petition against this town’s vice mayor and four councilors for loss of confidence was finally submitted and accepted by the municipal election officer the other day.

This, after the petitioners led by Barangay Garrita chairman Marcelo Tugas and thousands of signatories were dismayed Thursday when no one was around at the local Commission on Elections (Comelec) office, whether deliberately or not, as one of those being subjected for recall is the husband of the election officer.

As of Thursday, 7,453 petitioners signed the recall petition against Vice Mayor Filipina Rivera and Councilors Rosalinda Acenas, Ruben Ampler, Tamerlane Olores (husband of the election officer) and Cothera Gwen Yamamoto “because of loss of confidence as they are unproductive and anti-progress.”

Municipal election officer Amelia Olores and her assistant, Malou Opulente, reported for work as early as 6 a.m. Friday after the petitioners and their lawyers complained about their absence in office the previous day to provincial election officer Temie Lambino. Olarte attended a meeting in Dagupan City while Opulente was on leave, The STAR learned.

On Thursday morning, a people’s assembly was held at a covered court in the town proper where Mayor Marcelo Navarro Jr. and five councilors allied with him explained the need for the recall petition.

“It (the recall petition) was the people’s decision, their own initiative. I will be here supporting them because I believe in their cause,” Navarro told reporters.

Twenty-one out of the town’s 27 barangay chairmen signed the petition.

However, Rivera and her councilor-allies are also conducting their own signature campaign against Navarro and the councilors identified with him for a counter-recall petition.

“Yes, that is a move we have anticipated but it is a welcome move because the purpose of this is for the people of Bani to really choose again a leader that will serve them and deserving of their trust and votes,” he said.

In case these recall and counter-recall moves prosper, there would be a total recall involving all elected town officials, a first in the history of the province and possibly elsewhere in the country.

The controversy between Navarro and Rivera, who belong to different political fences, stemmed from the non-approval of the P70-million loan the mayor was seeking for the improvement of the public market, the municipal hall and the municipal cemetery.