Moves to oust Taguig mayor underway

Several barangay officials, mostly supporters of Taguig-Pateros Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano, have called for a Preparatory Recall Assembly (PRA) tomorrow in a move to oust incumbent Taguig Mayor Sigfrido "Freddie" Tinga.

"Progress has been impossible for Taguig with Mayor Tinga," Cayetano said in a telephone interview yesterday.

The lawmaker claimed that Tinga refuses to implement multi-million projects not under his name. The mayor, he said, has even ordered them demolished.

Tinga has also allegedly appointed several relatives to positions at the municipal hall and has entered into questionable multi-million loans and anomalous deals, including overpriced notebooks that were distributed by the municipal government to public schools.

Cayetano said he received reports that the municipal government bought the notebooks at P40 each when they could be bought for only P5 to P10 each.

The solon also scored Tinga’s father, former Rep. Dante Tinga, for continuing to wield his power and influence at the municipal hall.

"It’s the entire manner by which Mayor Tinga is running Taguig that people are complaining about. If we want to save Taguig, we should oust him," Cayetano said.

For his part, Tinga dismissed the PRA and Cayetano’s allegations. "This is politics rearing its ugly head," he told The STAR in a separate interview. "These are baseless accusations that they have been raising since day one. They are desperate," he said.

Tinga claimed that Cayetano was resorting to illegal means in influencing barangay officials to agree to the PRA.

"What we understand is that local government officials are now being ‘quarantined’ in Subic in the guise of a three-day seminar. That’s illegal assembly. They are doing this to make it appear that they are gaining momentum," he said.

The mayor said Cayetano’s moves would eventually backfire on him.

"My performance has been judged as good by the people. They are happy and this shows at the end of the day," Tinga said.

There are 82 votes needed among Taguig’s 162 elected barangay officials in order for a recall election to take place. Taguig has 18 barangays, with Cayetano and Tinga enjoying the support of nine barangays each.

Cayetano’s camp is reportedly fielding businessman Rafael Dizon III in the recall elections.

Recent news reports have detailed Cayetano’s numerous accusations against Tinga. The mayor has challenged the solon to file cases against him with the Ombudsman if indeed there is truth to any of his allegations.

Cayetano has so far only filed his complaints with the media.