Backers decry ouster try on Imus mayor

MANILA, Philippines—Supporters rallied behind Imus, Cavite, Mayor Emmanuel Maliksi on Wednesday after political rivals attempted to serve and enforce the Commission on Elections writ of execution against him, a duty reserved to a court sheriff or a Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) official.

In a press conference at the Imus City Hall, Cavite Mayors League president and Rosario Mayor Jose Ricafrente decried what he called the violent manner by which Gov. Juanito Remulla and Partido Magdalo ally and Imus mayoralty contender Homer Saquilayan, accompanied by their supporters, tried to forcibly take over City Hall on the strength of the Supreme Court decision.

Also present during the conference were Ricafrente, Tagaytay Mayor Abraham Tolentino, Rep. Roy Loyola, Naic Mayor Edwina Mendoza, Ternate Mayor Lambert Bambao, Maragondon mayoralty candidate Rey Rillo, Indang mayoralty candidate Lope Tepora and congressional candidate Francis Abaya.

The Supreme Court had reversed a lower court order declaring Maliksi the rightful winner of the last mayoralty race and ousting Saquilayan from city hall. But Maliksi, a Liberal Party member, said the decision was not yet final with his pending motion for reconsideration.

“I assume that he (Remulla) is educated enough to realize that what he did was illegal and not proper for a governor whose duties and powers do not include implementing writs or court orders. When Governor Remulla scaled the walls and broke windows just to enforce that questionable writ, we know that he was doing it purely for politicking,” Ricafrente, a former key ally of Remulla, said in Filipino.

The Cavite leaders said they were considering filing charges against Remulla in the Office of the Ombudsman.