Comelec certifies Danao City recall

CEBU, Philippines - The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has issued a resolution certifying the sufficiency of the petition for recall filed by  Danao City Vice Mayor Ramon “Nito” Durano III against his eldest brother and namesake Mayor Ramon Durano Jr.

With the resolution of the Comelec En Banc dated July 26 and signed By Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes and six commissioners, the election office in Danao City will now start the verification of the names of the list of voters and their signatures.

A copy of such resolution was provided to The FREEMAN.

Provincial Election Supervisor Lionel Marco Castillano said they were ordered to inform both parties of the said resolution and set the date of the verification of the names used in the petition if they are on the list of voters of Danao City and also their respective signatures.

According to Castillano, after their verification of the list of voters and signatures, they will submit their report to the Comelec office in Manila.

Based of their report, as the results of their verification, the Comelec En Banc would set the schedule of the recall elections.

The Comelec requires at least 15 percent of the voters to sign a recall petition for it to be given due course.

There are a total of 78,972 voters in Danao City as of the elections last year.

The camp of Vice Mayor Durano submitted 31,000 signatures to support their petition for recall.

In yesterday’s press conference, Vice Mayor Durano, accompanied by the members of the city council, presented a copy of the resolution of the Comelec En Banc.

Durano expressed his thanks to the Comelec officials for giving immediate attention to their petition for recall against his brother.

The resolution says “Considering the findings of the Office of the Deputy Executive Director for Operations to be in order, the Commission Resolved, as it hereby resolves, to approve the foregoing recommendation of Deputy Executive Director for Operations Bartolome Sinocruz to certify that the petition for recall of Mayor Durano Jr. of Danao City is sufficient.”

Vice Mayor Durano said they filed the petition for recall against his brother due to loss of confidence.

The vice mayor said he will run against his brother.

The mayor has also initiated a recall petition against the vice mayor.

If ever this would affect the plan of the vice mayor to run, he did not yet name who is their other bet for the mayoralty.

“Para nako ang pinaka bug-at gyud nga rason sa among recall mao ang pagbudhi ang pagtalikod ni Mayor Boy Durano sa partidong Bakud sa iyang mga kauban ug sa mga tawo nga naghago pagpadaug kaniya sa miaging eleksyon,” said Vice Mayor Durano.

Vice Mayor Durano said Mayor Durano, without consulting them, ordered retrenchment of more than 200 casual employees working at city hall for more than five years.

During the October barangay elections, Vice Mayor Durano said Mayor Durano put up his own candidates against incumbent barangay captains, who supported him during May 10, 2010 elections.

Vice Mayor Durano also denied accusation that he is a dictator in managing the affairs at city hall.

Also yesterday, the camp of Vice Mayor Durano questioned the recent transactions of Mayor Durano including the release of the salary of their brother former mayor and now City Administrator Jesus ‘Don’ Durano despite the absence of an appointment.

They also questioned the appointment of Lawyer Gloria Dalawampu as city legal officer.

The other reason in the petition for recall  are the delay in the release of salaries of casual and job order employees of the city and the delay in the release of allowances for Barangay Health Workers, Barangay Nutrition Counselors, and the Barangay Tanods.

Thirty six out of 42 barangay captains in Danao City passed a resolution expressing their loss of confidence on the administration of Mayor Durano and their support to the people’s clamor for the recall of the mayor.

He also accused the mayor of ruling over the city like a “despotic warlord” reminiscent of the Martial Law years.

The vice mayor also narrated the violations of the Local Government Code of 1991 and other laws that his brother committed.

One of these is that the mayor allegedly ignored the separation of powers by issuing a directive threatening them (city council) with criminal and administrative sanctions for not approving the proposed budget for calendar year 2011.

The Sangguniang Panlungsod said that the budget did not reflect the programs and platform of government, which their group promised to deliver to the people of Danao City during the campaign. — /NLQ (FREEMAN)