UNLESS the Commission on Elections (Comelec) issues a temporary restraining order (TRO), Augusto Corro said he will refuse to believe he should not assume office as mayor of Daanbantayan town.
“I’m not going to back off from my claim as mayor. Remember, I have taken oath,” he said.
Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) 7 Director Pedro Noval returned the writ of execution to Regional Trial Court (RTC) Judge Antonio Marigomen at 2:40 p.m. last Friday. This, after Noval received a letter from the judge requesting him to return the document.
Judge Marigomen, in the one-page letter to Noval, said he received the motion for reconsideration filed by incumbent Daanbantayan Mayor Sun Shimura and his mother, Vice Mayor Ma. Luisa Loot.
Corro, however, said he doesn’t even need to consult a lawyer on whether he should listen to Noval and Marigomen, saying the letters they exchanged are not court orders but mere scraps of paper.
Oath
“Sulat ra na sa duha ka naghigugma-ay. Ilang gi-confuse ang situation (Those are like love letters. They merely add confusion to the situation),” he said in a mobile phone interview.
Granting that the recall of the writ of execution was a legal court order, Corro asked if it was enough to undo his oath-taking.
He said he has a clear mandate to assume the post.
The recall of the writ, however, stopped Corro and Dr. Jose de Leon from assuming as mayor and vice mayor, and replacing Shimura and Loot.
Return
The mayor and his mother have filed a motion asking the Comelec to reconsider the decision that declared Corro and de Leon the winners of the May 2007 elections.
Until the motion for reconsideration is acted on, Shimura and Loot remain mayor and vice mayor of Daan-bantayan.
As soon as Judge Marigomen received last Feb. 25 the joint manifestation and copy of the motion for reconsideration, he ordered Noval to return immediately the writ of execution.
Noval received the writ of execution from the Bogo court sheriff at 11:15 a.m. last Feb. 23.