Counter petition filed against Danao vice mayor

CEBU, Philippines -  Danao City Mayor Ramon Durano Jr. and his brother, former mayor and now City Administrator Jesus “Don” Durano, are fighting back against their younger brother, Vice Mayor Ramon “Nito” Durano III, and filed a recall petition against him and nine members of the city council for loss of confidence.

Mayor Durano and Don, accompanied by lawyer Gloria Dalawampu and their supporters, went to the Danao City Commission on Elections office and filed the recall petition with 33,000 signatures from the residents of the 42 barangays in the city.

Aside from Nito, those included in the petition were city councilors Carmen Remedios Meca, Miguel Antonio Magpale, Jorge John Cane, Jose Thaddeus Roble Jr., Cynthia Duterte, Alejandro Lawas, Marilou Camaongay-Flores, Roland Reyes and Jovelina Enriquez.

Councilor Jesus Meca was not included in the recall petition due to his health condition.

“We are confident there will be a recall election for the mayor within a few months from now because our petition for recall is already at the Comelec en banc,” Nito said.

The vice mayor further said the mayor’s camp still has to pass several tests provided by law such as the verification of signatures.

“They boasted about three weeks ago that they already had 35,000 signatures but their petition is way below that number. In the meantime we have asked DILG Secretary Jesse Robredo to investigate the mayor for his unreasonable refusal to sign vouchers for the reimbursement of our traveling expenses,” his press statement said.

In his petition for recall, the mayor said that just a few days after their assumption to office last July 1, 2010, Nito and other councilors conspired to pass ordinances and resolutions which encroached into the powers and prerogatives of the mayor, and stripped him off of powers and functions duly vested by law.

Nito and city councilors allegedly passed a resolution declaring the city training center of the executive department as the new legislative building over the objection of the mayor.

The vice mayor was also accused of signing 111 disbursement vouchers and 91 checks of the City of Danao charged against the general fund, over the name, “Ramon D. Durano Jr., City Mayor” without the mayor’s knowledge and consent.

The vice mayor and city councilors, the mayor said, also violated existing rules and regulations by creating more than 200 positions for casual employees, emergency and job order employees which are not operable and for which services the city council has no need, as they are merely intended for distribution to the different departments in the executive.

Earlier this month, Nito filed before the Commission on Elections a petition for recall elections against the mayor. The vice mayor presented to the Comelec a copy of their petition signed by 31,000 residents of Danao City. — (FREEMAN)