Saturday, December 29, 2007 BO-PK sweep in ABC poll seen as Labangon’s Abella withdraws from race By Rene H. Martel & Katrina N. Tabanao Sun.Star Staff Reporters
ALL impediments to the administration-anointed officials’ candidacy in today’s Cebu City Association of Bara-ngay Councils (ABC) election fell through a day before the scheduled election.
The sole contender to the vice presidency backed out and a court petition seeking to prevent Guadalupe Barangay Captain Eugenio Faelnar from running was denied, both yesterday.
Regional Trial Court Judge Eric Menchavez denied the application of lawyer Salvador Solima for a temporary restraining order (TRO) preventing Faelnar from seeking reelection as ABC president.
In a one-page order, Judge Mechavez said that Solima failed to convince the court he is entitled to the relief demanded in his complaint.
Before a TRO can be issued, the court explained, it is essential for the petitioner to show that there exists a right to be protected, which is directly threatened by the act he wants the court to stop.
“Further, there must be a showing that the invasion of the right is material and substantial and that there is an urgent paramount necessity for the writ to prevent serious damage,” said the court.
Backed off
For his part, Labangon Barangay Captain Felix Abella said that for the sake of unity among the Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan (BOPK) allies, he decided to withdraw his candidacy for ABC vice president.
“I’d rather withdraw than cause division. Besides, I don’t think I can gain enough votes, because of an impending boycott by the opposition and the group of Talamban Barangay Captain Alvin Arcilla,” Abella told Sun.Star Cebu.
“Dili na lang ko para wala’y labad sa ulo (I might as well avoid causing a headache).”
Abella earlier expressed confidence in getting the support of 50 of the 80 barangay captains.
He would have provided the only semblance of a contest in today’s election, since the opposition will not field any candidates for ABC president or board members.
Confusion
But Abella said his candidacy has created confusion in the party. Seeing this, he said, he decided to back off and allow Pahina Central’s Sisinio Andales to run unopposed.
He formally announced his withdrawal in a gathering of over 50 barangay captains at Patio Isabel in Barangay Banilad yesterday morning.
The restaurant will also host today’s election.
A source, though, said that Faelnar, Basak San Nicolas’ George Rama and even City Councilor Gerardo Carillo kept on dissuading Abella, reminding him that Faelnar’s ticket was picked through straw balloting among majority of the 80 barangay captains.
Faelnar and 11 others are running unopposed in today’s ABC elections.
In a separate interview, the opposition’s Mary Ann de los Santos, Lahug barangay captain, said Abella’s withdrawal of candidacy came as no surprise.
“It is an exercise in futility, anyway. They will just go through the motions of an election when in fact Faelnar was already ABC president the very day Mayor Tomas Osmeña said he won in the secret balloting,” she said.
“Grabe gyud ang influence ni Tomas. Nahadlok ang mga kapitan (The captains are afraid of Tomas),” she said.
She said many barangay captains are grumbling against the ABC leadership but could not muster enough courage to do it in the open.
Who’ll suffer?
Solima, who ran but lost to Faelnar in the last elections, went to court to try to stop the latter’s reelection bid in the ABC, but failed.
In his position paper, Faelnar said that Solima has no right to be protected by a TRO because he will not suffer if Faelnar continues serving as barangay captain and if he runs for ABC president.
Under the law, it is the elected first councilor, not the candidate with the second highest number of votes in the Oct. 29 elections, who will take over as barangay captain if Faelnar is unseated.
In an interview, Solima said he accepted the decision of the court.
He, however, said the court battle is not yet over because the main case for injunction that he filed against Faelnar still continues. Faelnar has asked the court to dismiss the case.
The court also noted that there is a motion for reconsideration pending before the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on the disqualification case Solima filed against Faelnar.
The Comelec second division earlier dismissed the disqualification case.
Citing the case of Lonzanida vs. Comelec, the election body’s second division said that while Faelnar indeed served three consecutive terms from 1994 to 2002, his term was interrupted when he was not proclaimed after the 1997 elections because of election-related cases.
Solima had asked Comelec to disqualify Faelnar, whom he accused of exceeding the allowed number of successive terms fr barangay officials.
Faelnar argued that his second term was interrupted. He started serving his term in February 1998, when the cases against him were dismissed, instead of June 1997.
