Town mayor seeks advice on councilors’ suspension

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – If the entire local council gets suspended, Mayor Greg Abalos is ready to seek advice from the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).

Abalos said he will definitely seek the guidance of the DILG if the entire council is suspended.

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Specifically, the mayor wants assurance from the DILG that there will be no crippling of legislative functions in the municipality.

Weeks ago, Regional Trail Court Judge Danilo Camacho set the final date for decision on February 24, saying he will decide on both the suspension of Vice Mayor Romeo Salda and Councilors Francis Lee, Jim Botiwey, Henry Kipas, Arthur Shontogan, Roderick Awingan, Estrella Adeban, Von Ryan Tauli and Robert Namoro for violations of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, as well as the motion to quash filed by Ramos.

Abalos said he has tried to mediate between journalist Jimmy Laking in the past regarding the case but failed to convince the embattled journalist to defer the filing of the legal procedure.

Even human rights advocate, Jose Molintas, has been asked to mediate between the La Trinidad councilors and the camp of Laking with his legal team, the Sanidad Law Office, but was also not able to broker an agreement.

Laking filed a case against the officials after they unanimously declared him “persona non grata” in December 2010 for alleged biased reporting.

Abalos assured there will be smooth flow of legislative function even if there will be a suspension.

The mayor said the DILG will have to step in once the decision on suspension is final.