Thursday, January 03, 2008 Unite: guv to officials of Mandaue ABC
GOV. GWENDOLYN Garcia called on Mandaue City officials to unite and settle the issues confronting the Association of Barangay Councils (ABC).
She hopes they will make the peaceful elections of the ABC Provincial Chapter an example.
The ABC Provincial Chapter election was done peacefully and Garcia said it showed unity, which Cebu has not experienced in the past.
“I do trust in the sobriety and wisdom of the Mandaue City officials to find a solution and to settle their differences in a manner that should take into consideration all issues,” she said.
Mandaue is a highly urbanized city and it is among the two highly urbanized cities in the country that is allowed to vote for provincial officials.
Declaration
The exception is stated in the Local Government Code.
The Department of Interior and Local Government Unit has declared the ABC elections in Mandaue City a failure after outgoing ABC president Joy Ouano and Banilad Barangay Captain Glen Bercede both claimed they won.
Ouano has barred barangay captains with unpaid dues from joining the activity saying this is in the by-laws of the league.
19 of the 27 barangay captains walked out of the room where they met in the Cebu International Convention Center after Ouano ruled that only 13 were qualified to vote.
Invitation
The rest, she said, had unpaid monthly dues and could not join.
Eighteen of those that left held a separate election and chose Bercede as their president.
They also picked Tony Dabon of Maguikay as vice president and Carmelo Del Mar of Ibabao-Estancia as auditor.
They tried to invite Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) 7 Director Pedro Noval to their election but the official declined and remained in the CICC lobby instead.
Noval declared both elections as failures and added that the DILG central office and the National Liga ng mga Barangay will set a date for a special election in Mandaue soon.
Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes had said that the essence of democracy is that the majority prevails.
He referred to the 19 barangay captains who walked out of the room. (MBG)
