Garbage in Taguig piles up due to election mess

Garbage has begun to pile up in Taguig as a result of the still-unresolved election mess involving the continued failure of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to declare winning mayoralty candidate Sigfrido "Freddie" Tinga as the duly-elected mayor.

The emerging garbage crisis as well as the disrupted operations of the municipal government has led Tinga to make an appeal to Comelec chairman Alfredo Benipayo to take steps that will pave the way for his proclamation.

"There is no reason to delay my proclamation. The canvassing of election returns has ended long ago with me emerging as the duly-elected mayor. These delays are adversely affecting our constituents in Taguig," Tinga said.

Endless protests and questions from the camp of losing candidate, incumbent Mayor Ricardo Papa Jr., has put off Tinga’s proclamation as mayor despite the Comelec’s canvassing of election returns ending last May 25 with Tinga garnering a winning 63,114 votes against the 57,497 votes garnered by Papa.

Meanwhile, garbage has remained uncollected by the town’s garbage contractor, Southport Transport, for several days as the firm’s garbage trucks have been used to block peripheral streets around and outside the municipal hall. This unusual deployment of garbage trucks, believed to have been orchestrated by Papa, started last Monday when the Comelec national office issued an order to transport the town’s election returns to the head office in Intramuros and the proclamation of the duly-elected mayor and vice mayor to be held there.

Earlier, the Taguig Board of Canvassers headed by Emilio Santos was directed by Benipayo to transfer the venue of the canvassing from the Taguig Municipal Hall to the Comelec main office.

Last Monday, Santos and the two other members of the Taguig Board of Canvassers, escorted by elements of the Philippine Marines assigned to the Comelec, was barred by Papa’s supporters from entering the Taguig Municipal Hall and retrieving the remaining election returns.

"I hope the Comelec could act with dispatch on this matter because the delay has already affected our constituents in Taguig," said Tinga, who pointed out that the operation of the municipal government was virtually at a standstill. — Rainier Allan Ronda