Duterte visits wake of Bataan vice governor

President elect Rodrigo Duterte. FILE PHOTO BY EDWIN BACASMAS

BALANGA CITY, Philippines—President-elect Rodrigo Duterte arrived here on Wednesday afternoon to condole with the family of newly elected Bataan Vice Governor Enrique “Tet” Garcia Jr. who died last Monday at the Makati Medical Center from a lingering liver ailment.

READ: Bataan vice gov-elect Enrique ‘Tet’ Garcia passes away

Duterte closeted himself with Garcia’s son, reelected Gov. Alberto Garcia and other family members shortly after his arrival in the Garcia house here at past 5 p.m. He left shortly before 6 p.m. without talking to reporters.

Garcia, 75, the incumbent second strict representative, ran unopposed for vice governor in the recently concluded May 9 national elections. His replacement as vice governor is still unresolved.

Because Garcia was ailing, his son Albert had petitioned the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to recognize his cousin Ma. Cristina Garcia, as his father’s substitute before election day, said lawyer Fernando Cot-om, the province’s election supervisor.

READ: Garcia, Bataan political clan patriarch, dies; 75

“We have to wait for the Comelec decision [as to whether it was the late congressman who ran for vice governor or his niece]. If it rules in favor of the Garcias before June 30, then Ma. Cristina will take her oath as the vice governor,” Cot-om said.

If the Comelec rejects the substitution, it would have to call for a special elections, he said. The next Comelec hearing is scheduled on June 21.

The elder Garcia was elected second district congressman in 1987 and completed his second term until 1992 before running for Bataan governor, a post he served from 1992 to 1994 and from 2004 to 2013. He was a member of 8th, 10th, 11th and 12th Congress. RAM