BAGUIO CITY, Philippines – The members of the board of canvassers of Mountain Province have been charged before the Office of the Ombudsman for proclaiming the substitute for a candidate who ran unopposed as an independent and died before the elections.
In a five-page complaint, Salvador Liked of Balintaugan town filed charges of grave abuse of authority and acts prejudicial to the best interest of the service against provincial election supervisor Julia Elenita Tabangin, provincial prosecutor Golda Bagawi and schools division superintendent Gloria Boya-ao.
Cathy Jill Mayaen, who filed a petition for substitution on May 5 after her father Gov. Leonardo Mayaen died of a heart attack on March 31, was proclaimed on May 10.
The respondents said they proclaimed Mayaen because there was no aggrieved party. The older Mayaen, whose name remained in the official ballots, got 60,684 votes.
Liked said a resolution issued by the Commission on Elections on May 7 denied Mayaen’s petition.
“The illegal acts of the respondents… constitute a gross disregard of the highest order of morality in the civil service which is also punishable under provisions of RA 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees,” the complaint stated.