Maliksi: I’m still Imus mayor

SWAT members arrive outside the Municipal Hall grounds as the supporters of unseated Mayor Emmanuel Maliksi prevent the camp of Homer Saquilayan from taking over as he takes his oath as mayor of this town as declared by the Imus regional Trial Court on Wednesday.INQUIRER FILE  PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines – Imus, Cavite Mayor Emmanuel Maliksi refused Monday to vacate his post despite the order from the Supreme Court (SC) and the Commission on Elections (Comelec) that he make way for Homer Saquilayan to assume office.

Maliksi, along with his supporters, had not accepted the writ of execution served on Monday and was refusing to leave the municipal hall, radio reports said.

“I’m still the mayor,” Maliksi said in a televised phone patch interview. “The decision is not yet final, I have managed to file a motion for reconsideration in the Supreme Court.”

He further said that the writ of execution was “wrong, irregular” because it should have come from the court of origin which is the regional trial court.

The Comelec writ of execution should also have been signed by all commissioners of the Comelec being an En Banc order. Only Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. and the Clerk of court had signed the order, Maliksi said.

Saquilayan, in a separate phone patch interview, said that Maliksi and his supporters have barricaded themselves inside the municipal hall. Police were also surrounding the building, he said.

Saquilan’s supporters had already been told to go home after they gathered for his proclamation as Imus Mayor.

He called on Maliksi to heed the order from the Supreme Court and step down so he could assume office. He said that the normal operations of the municipal hall were not affected by Maliksi’s refusal to leave.

The writ of execution, served Monday, directed the provincial election supervisor and the provincial local government operations officer to implement the order for “Emmanuel Maliksi … to cease and desist from discharging the powers and functions of the office of the mayor … and to relinquish and vacate the same in favor of … Homer Saquilayan to cause the peaceful and smooth turn-over of office.”