Cagayan Governor Manuel Mamba | PHOTO: Official facebook page of Governor Manuel Mamba
TUGUEGARAO CITY — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) — First Division has ordered Cagayan Governor Manuel Mamba disqualified in the May 9, 2022 elections.
In its 23-page ruling on Wednesday, April 24, in a separate complaint-petition filed by lawyer Victorio Casauay, Comelec First Division Presiding Commissioner Socorro Inting and Commissioners Aimee Ferolino and Ernesto Ferdinand Maceda Jr. declared the gubernatorial post in Cagayan vacant.
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The commissioners also declared that the law of succession “shall apply and the vice governor shall automatically succeed and shall hold office as such.”
Incumbent Vice Gov. Melvin Vargas Jr. has yet to comment on the latest Comelec order.
The commissioners also asked the Comelec law department to initiate a preliminary investigation “for the possible filing of an election offense case” against Mamba for allegedly breaching election laws on vote-buying.
Despite the latest order, Mamba said “a motion for reconsideration will be immediately filed with the Commission on Elections En Banc to appeal the disqualification order.”
He said his legal team has five days to file the Comelec en banc motion for reconsideration.
Mamba appealed to Cagayan folk “to be calm and composed” and said that he “will remain and continue” in his role as governor of the province until there is no final decision.
The governor said that in December 2022, he also had the same situation when the Second Division of the Comelec issued a disqualification order against him.
It will be recalled that defeated gubernatorial candidate Dra. Zara De Guzman-Lara filed the earlier case against Mamba.
In the latest case, lawyer Victorio Casauay said that this “victory is for all Cagayanos who deserve a leader who embodies their dreams and aspirations and respects the rule of law.”