2 mayors share fate in fight vs LP rivals

Homer Saquilayan and Renato Federico are mayors of towns tens of kilometers apart who share a common fate and, more importantly, have rivals that belong to what is now the country’s most powerful political party, the Liberal Party (LP).

Both have suffered defeat in electoral protests filed against them by their LP rivals in  court and in the Commission on Elections (Comelec), which is now headed by a former election lawyer.

Saquilayan was declared unseated as mayor of Imus, Cavite, by a Regional Trial Court. The Comelec invalidated Federico’s win as mayor of Sto. Tomas, Batangas.

In Imus, tension rose when supporters of Saquilayan camped out at the town hall to prevent his rival, Emmanuel Maliksi, a member of LP, from taking over as mayor following a decision by the RTC.

In Sto. Tomas, Federico decided to seek action from the Supreme Court after Comelec declared his win in the May 2010 elections as invalid.

Tension in Imus had simmered down when Maliksi took his oath of office last Thursday before Sen. Panfilo Lacson, his family’s political ally.

At least 1,000 supporters of Saquilayan left the town hall. Saquilayan’s brother, though, said the fight isn’t over.

Like Federico, Saquilayan said he was bringing his case to the Supreme Court.

Maliksi’s takeover was not without fanfare. At least 1,000 supporters went with him to the town hall to hear Mass with Maliksi.

Maliksi said the Department of the Interior and Local Government, headed by LP stalwart Jesse Robredo, had taken cognizance of him as the new mayor.

Saquilayan had tried to hole himself up in the town hall as did others like him in previous similar cases. His supporters had padlocked all entrances to the mayor’s office and barricaded these.

When Maliksi took over, the scene was reminiscent of political battles in the past, including that of Jejomar Binay, then Makati mayor and now vice president, being surrounded by supporters and steel barricades to prevent DILG men from enforcing an order to suspend him.

Truckloads of policemen, many carrying truncheons, and a Special Weapons and Tactics  team stood around the town hall as a court sheriff served a writ enforcing the court decision installing Maliksi as new Imus mayor.

In Sto. Tomas, Federico found himself in trouble after Comelec invalidated his candidacy as a substitute for Edna Sanchez, widow of the late Batangas Gov. Armando Sanchez.

Federico ran in place of Mrs. Sanchez for mayor of Sto. Tomas when Mrs. Sanchez changed her mind and ran instead for governor against actress and incumbent Gov. Vilma Santos.

Comelec said Federico wasn’t allowed to do that. Substitutions, it said, are allowed only when the original candidate dies or is incapacitated, not when he or she changes his or her mind and runs for another position.

While Federico’s case was technically different from that of Saquilayan, who had been accused of benefiting from fraudulent vote counting, he also has an LP member as rival, Osmundo Maligaya.

A total of 5,810 votes tilted the elections in favor of Federico but these were negated by the Comelec ruling on Dec. 21 telling Federico that he shouldn’t have run and votes cast in his favor shouldn’t have been counted in the first place. Maricar Cinco and Jerome Balinton, Inquirer Southern Luzon