Vote-buying claims surround councilors’ league polls in North Cotabato

KIDAPAWAN CITY, North Cotabato, Philippines – The North Cotabato municipal and city councilors elected its new set of officials for the Philippine Councilors League (PCL) on Friday in an exercise former governor Manny Piñol claimed was marred by vote buying.

Elected PCL-North Cotabato chapter president was Rogelio Maranon with Rogerick Benito as vice president.

In her message, North Cotabato Governor Emmylou Mendoza challenged Maranon and his fellow officers to execute their mandate in helping their constituents.

Mendoza said city and town lawmakers would play a significant role in serving the community as she congratulated the PCL for coming up with a clean transparent selection of officers.

She did not say anything about the allegations of vote buying where the electorate-councilors were promised P10,000 cash for voting for Maranon.

Piñol, the former governor, alleged that the councilors who voted for Maranon received envelopes containing P10,000 from top politicians.

Piñol did not name the politicians.

“While the whole country is having a rude awakening on the evils of the politics of money, political leaders in the Province of North Cotabato seem to be just starting to enjoy it,” Piñol said in his website www.mannypiñol.com and Facebook accounts Sunday.

He said the presidency of the PCL would automatically make the councilor an ex-officio member of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan or Provincial Board, tasked with enacting ordinances, passing resolutions and, more importantly, approving the funding requests of the governor.

Maranon got 160 votes as against the 13 votes earned by former judge and now No. 1 Kidapawan City councilor Francis Palmones Jr., a new member of the Liberal Party.

Mendoza, a former member of the Lakas-CMD who joined the LP in 2012 prior to the 2013 elections, supported a PCL candidate who was not a member of the ruling party, an issue which Palmones said he would take up with the LP national headquarters in Manila.

Maranon will be called board member for the next three years, getting a monthly pay of about P25,000, according to Piñol.