Ensure smooth transition, losing local execs urged

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has advised local officials who lost their bids for reelection to let go and ensure a smooth turnover to their successors.

In a statement on Thursday, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año called on the defeated local officials to make sure they transferred responsibility to the winning candidates in an orderly manner.

“Now is the time to rise above party politics and interests and prepare for a smooth turnover of power in LGUs (local government units) to ensure continuity in local governance,” he said.

Año urged both winners and losers in Monday’s polls to “take the higher ground and let go of political grudges and bitterness for the sake of the people whom they have sworn to serve.”

But even if the elections are over, pending disqualification cases at the Commission on Elections (Comelec) will not be deemed moot.

Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said the cases would still be resolved by the poll body.

“If the case is resolved afterward, the consequences will follow,” Jimenez said.

Even winning candidates with pending disqualification cases could still be unseated, he added.

Time to move on

Año issued a memorandum circular requiring the creation of local governance transition teams chaired by mayors or governors that would conduct an inventory of properties, secure official documents, and hold briefings on the challenges the incoming set of officials should expect.

“The Filipino people have spoken and now is the time to move on,” Año said.

Several petitions seeking to nullify certificates of candidacies were filed with the Comelec before the elections.

These include the cases filed against former Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano and his wife, former Taguig City Mayor Lani Cayetano, who ran for Congress in the first and second districts of Taguig City, respectively.

While the petition against Alan Cayetano was junked by the Comelec Second Division, the case against his wife remains pending.

Both cases concerned their place of residence.

A case also remains pending against former Sen. Serge Osmeña III, who is accused of failing to file his campaign expense reports in 2010 and 2016. —JEANNETTE I. ANDRADE AND TINA G. SANTOS