Tuguegarao mayoral row confusion blamed on CA

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya—A Court of Appeals (CA) ruling, interpreted differently by opposing parties, has sown confusion among officials and residents of Tuguegarao City in Cagayan, as two officials have been acting as mayor there since Monday.

The city government’s operations have been disrupted as both Engelbert Caronan and Jefferson Soriano were claiming to be Tuguegarao’s mayor.

“It is very frustrating because we are caught between two opposing forces, and we do not know whose orders we should follow,” said an official, who asked not to be named for fear of harassment.

The problem stemmed from a CA decision that overturned the ruling of the Office of the Ombudsman which dismissed Soriano and former city administrator Ronald Brillantes last year for grave misconduct.

Soriano started performing the functions of mayor on Monday, invoking the CA ruling which overturned his dismissal.

Caronan, the incumbent mayor, however, did not yield his post, saying the CA order was not executory. He said he would step down and return to his former post of vice mayor only on orders of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).

“We wonder what remains unclear for [Caronan] as the CA decision was clear in saying that Mayor Soriano be immediately reinstated,” said Claire Callangan, Soriano’s spokesperson.

The Inquirer tried but failed to reach Caronan for comment on Thursday. But in an earlier interview, he said the CA order will have to be implemented by the DILG.

Since Monday, Soriano has occupied his former office at the sixth floor of the city hall, while Caronan has not vacated his office at the second floor.

Caronan, who is on an official trip to Metro Manila, has been out of his office since Monday, allowing Soriano to hold his ground and issue memorandums to various departments, as well as administer wedding ceremonies.

Erstwhile Vice Mayor Bienvenido de Guzman II, a Soriano ally, has since vacated his post and reassumed his post as city councilor. But his move left the city without a vice mayor.

City hall employees and residents transacting business there were at a loss over the situation.

Callangan said she was hoping that the leadership issue would be clarified soon to avoid disrupting the city government’s operations. Melvin Gascon, Inquirer Northern Luzon