Honoraria issue to fire up Tudela mayoralty tiff anew

CEBU - The conflict over the mayoralty of Tudela town will heat up again as the workers hired by the two claimants of the mayoralty position —Rogelio Baquerfo Sr. and Demetrio Granada— expect the release of their honoraria for this month.

Baquerfo hired 52 job-order workers who did not receive their salaries from July to November last year while the 50 job-order workers appointed by Granada were not paid from September to November.

It was only last December when the 102 job-order workers received their accumulated honoraria after the two candidates agreed to put up a property bond. Baquerfo put up P900,000 while Granada offered P1.6 million.

The bond will serve as assurance for the town once the court will declare the real winner and the Commission on Audit will disallow the payment of job-order employees offered by the losing candidate.

The agreement ended last December 31.

Last December it was Governor Gwen Garcia who signed the checks for the salaries of the regular and casual employees, as the Land Bank of the Philippines refused to honor the signatures of either Baquerfo or Granada.

Garcia said she foresaw the problem of the job workers for this month. The governor said she is willing to sit down with the “two mayors” since the resolution from the Commission on Election-Central Office has not yet been acted on.

Last month Garcia invited the two to the Capitol to discuss matters concerning the job-order workers but the two did not show up.

“I don’t know how to resolve this,” Garcia said yesterday as she reiterated her call to the Comelec for the speedy resolution of the case. — Garry B. Lao/BRP   (THE FREEMAN)