Ejercito downplays call for San Juan recall polls

Senator Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito on Thursday came to the defense of his mother, San Juan Mayor Guia Gomez, amid a recall petition filed against her by rival supporters.

“There is no basis for San Juan City to hold recall elections against Mayor Guia Gomez since there is no clamor from San Juaneños for it,” Ejercito said in a statement.

READ: Battle for San Juan 2? Zamora seeks recall of Mayor Guia Gomez

He said San Juan City has “significantly improved” under the administration of  her mother, citing the back-to-back citations that the city has received including the prestigious Seal of Good Local Governance by the Department of the Interior and Local Government and the Excellent Rating from the Civil Service Commission as contained in its Anti-Red Tape Act (Arta) Report Card.

“These awards profess the good governance Mayor Guia is implementing in San Juan City, and more projects are underway such as the construction of the City Hall of Justice, new San Juan Medical Center and the Rehab Center,” said the senator.

“Ang ganda na ng pagpapatakbo ng San Juan (San Juan is being managed efficiently). It is rapidly developing and services are bound to further improve, then comes this recall petition from a political foe who cannot accept defeat. Amid all these progress, how can there be a ‘loss of confidence’ and ‘incompetence?’” he asked.

Ejercito was apparently referring to former Vice Mayor Francis Zamora, who ran but lost to Gomez in last year’s elections.

“Thus, there is no reason to hold recall elections in our beloved San Juan City,” the senator said.

On Wednesday, Zamora’s supporters filed a petition calling for a recall election in the city accusing the mayor of alleged “graft and corruption, incompetence, abuse of power and dereliction of duty.”

Zamora earlier filed a disqualification case against Gomez for her camp’s alleged vote-buying activities but later withdrew the case to give way for the recall petition.

But Ejercito said the accusations of fraud were also “baseless since the act is virtually impossible in an automated election.” JPV/rga