Thursday, August 28, 2008
Granada lawyer insists court order no longer needed
AN OPINION cannot hold water over a court decision, if you ask the counsel for court-proclaimed Tudela mayor Demetrio Granada.
This is why Granada insists on being the mayor of Tudela in the Camotes group of islands, a little town whose residents have been torn in two factions of supporters:
those of Granada, who won in a judicial recount of votes; and those of Rogelio Baquerfo, who was proclaimed winner in the original electoral count and whom the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) still recognizes as mayor.
In a letter to DILG 7 Pedro Noval dated Aug. 4 and stamped received on August 20, DILG undersecretary Austere Panadero said the DILG “is of the view that Mayor Rogelio Baquerfo should still be recognized as the mayor of Tudela, Cebu”.
Reasons
One reason Panadero cited, among six, was that Granada filed to secure a writ of execution of the judgment of Regional Trial Court Judge Edito Enemecio, which found Granada winning by 21 votes.
But lawyer Guiller Ceniza, counsel for Granada, said a writ of execution is not needed, as such is necessary only if the court’s judgment “cannot be enforced.”
He cited President Arroyo’s assumption of the presidency over former president Joseph Estrada, a move that was supported by the people. That incident, Ceniza said, did not require a writ of execution.
“It was the people of Tudela who installed Granada,” Ceniza argued.
But Panadero countered this in his two-page letter to Noval.
“The supposed direct act of the people cannot also hold water. It not need be emphasized that ours is a government of law and not of men,” Panadero wrote.
Opinion
Ceniza, however, used a similar argument in defending Granada, saying that because a court decision prevails over a “mere opinion,” Enemecio’s ruling holds water over Panadero’s “opinion.”
“It is only a letter (from) DILG. It is not even an administrative proceeding. Granada’s side was not even made to comment,” Ceniza said.
He added that Granada’s side had not yet received a copy of Panadero’s letter.
Meanwhile, Baquerfo told reporters yesterday morning that he would furnish the different Tudela department heads with copies of the DILG statement.
If Granada refuses to vacate the office, Baquerfo said, he will need to ask the help of police.
But Ceniza said that Granada could not be forced to vacate the office, as the Commission on Elections has not yet issued any injunction order.
Baquerfo planned to return to Tudela yesterday after talking with Cebu Provincial Police Office Director Carmelo Valmoria in the hopes that it would be a “peaceful transition.”
“What happened to Tudela is very damaging,” Baquerfo said. He likened the town to the present situation of Daanbantayan in the rivalry between the camps of Ma. Luisa Loot and Engr. Augusto Corro. (KAB)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (August 28, 2008 issue)
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