Recall bid vs Bulacan town mayor moves forward

BALIWAG, Bulacan—The Commission on Elections (Comelec) sitting en banc has allowed the recall election against Mayor Carolina Dellosa to proceed, after validating about 24,000 signatures of voters that were gathered last year by three petitioners.

Baliwag residents Ramon Payumo, Bernard Fabian and Angelita Santos have petitioned for Dellosa’s recall, saying residents have lost confidence in her leadership.

They cited Dellosa’s supposed lack of regard for public officials, subordinates and employees, “which is conduct unbecoming of a public official,” and her “antagonistic attitude toward development concerns.”

The Philippine Daily Inquirer tried to reach Dellosa on Thursday but she and her aides did not take calls nor reply to text messages.

But in an earlier interview, she described the recall petition as politically motivated and blamed her rivals for instigating the move to oust her.

The five-page en banc resolution, dated Dec. 12, 2014, and sent to the Comelec office here on January 8, said the 23,925 signatures from the 27 villages of Baliwag represented more than 15 percent of voters in the town. Carmela Reyes-Estrope, Inquirer Central Luzon