IT SEEMS that Board Member Rommel Debulgado (1st district) has the upper hand over Board Member Frederick Ko (3rd district) to take over as the new Senior Board Member of the Provincial Board of Negros Occidental when the new members assume office on July 1.
Atty. Maki Angel Ascalon, secretary of the SP, said they will get an official list and ranking from the provincial office of the Department of Interior and Local Government.
"The determination of the ranking is based on the number of votes divided by the number of voters of his or her district," Ascalon said.
The post of senior member makes you the third high ranking official of the province and in any eventuality the vice governor becomes ineligible or incapacitated, you will be promoted, she pointed out.
Ascalon said their temporary computation showed Debulgado will most likely succeed outgoing senior Board Member Salvador Escalante.
Earlier, Engr. Carmelo Orbista, provincial director of the DILG, said that "based on their practice the one who becomes the most senior is the one who served the longest."
Governor-elect Eugenio Jose Lacson said he will ask the DILG for an official declaration of the ranking.
However, official results from the Commission on Elections showed it is Ko who garnered the most number of votes during the recent May 13 elections.
Ko had 130, 417 followed by Rommel Debulgado-105, 965, Andrew Montelibano- 100, 908, Jose Benito Alonso- 97, 291, Valentin Miguel Alonso- 88, 336;
Araceli Somosa- 87, 506, Victor Javellana- 86, 837, Ernesto Agustin Bascon- 86, 033, Jeffrey Tubula- 84, 077, Samson Mirhan- 72, 911, Rita Gatuslao- 70, 538 and Sixto Guanzon Jr.- 67, 558.
Ko, Debulgado, Javellana and Mirhan are returning board members.
The SP has two other ex-officio members in BM Juvy Pepillo representing the Association of Barangay Captains and BM Pocholo Yuvienco of the Sangguniang Kabataan.
The Philippine Councilors League Negros Occidental is still set to choose their officers on December this year with the president sitting also as ex officio member of the board.