Vice mayor replaces slain Clarin Mayor David Navarro

The flag is flown at half-staff in Clarin, Misamis Occidental following the fatal ambush of Mayor David Navarro on Friday, Oct. 6, 2019, in Cebu City. (Photo by Divina M. Suson / Inquirer Mindanao)

CLARIN, Misamis Occidental, Philippines — A new mayor has taken over the reins of this tiny rice-producing town in Misamis Occidental on Friday afternoon, hours after Mayor David Navarro died in an ambush in Cebu City.

Erstwhile Vice Mayor Glorife Roa became mayor by succession, taking her oath before a regional trial court judge of Ozamiz City, according to Emeterio Roa Jr., the new mayor’s son who heads the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office.

Roa added that on Monday, Navarro’s son, Mel Davidson, the town’s first councilor, is expected to take over the post of vice mayor.

Mel Davidson is Navarro’s second child who was appointed to replace his late older brother as councilor in 2018. In the 2019 midterm polls, he won a council seat.

The younger Roa, who spoke with the media on behalf of his mother, the new mayor, said he was expected to assume office as the new municipal administrator on Monday.

During the period of transition, he said, the new mayor wants that only wages and salaries would be disbursed from the local government’s coffers.

Mayor Roa is also expected to meet the heads of offices to set a new momentum for the local government.

“While we mourn the passing of Mayor Navarro, we have to continue the operation in the municipal hall,” the young Roa said.

Navarro was on his way to the Cebu City Prosecutor’s Office for inquest proceedings for a host of charges arising from his demeanor inside a massage parlor Wednesday night when waylaid along M. Velez Street on Friday afternoon.

/atm