Vicencio back at City Hall

Like a good soldier, Vice Mayor Mark Allan Jayjay Yambao, acting mayor-designate of Malacañang for the last 12 days, stepped down from office following the lifting of a 60-day suspension order slapped against Mayor Amado Vicencio.

"As I have always said, the DILG (Department of the Interior and Local Government) which put me here, only has to speak and I will follow," said Yambao, who assumed Vicencio’s post "by operation of the law and not by choice."

Vicencio, armed with an order from the Office of the President ordering the DILG to lift the preventive suspension, triumphantly walked into the city hall, this time with no police barring his entry, after a "roller-coaster" ride to reclaim his post.

Vicencio, speaking in a press conference at the session hall, thanked his supporters for his return to office.

"This is victory for the people of Malabon and a vindication for me. With this victory, we can now move on and continue pursuing the fulfillment of a development plan that will turn Malabon into one of the country’s more progressive cities," Vicencio said on the recent turn of events.

The mayor also expressed his trust and confidence in the country’s legal system, saying he is hopeful that the case against him involving the alleged anomalous purchase of the P88-million property in Tanza, Navotas for displaced rail dwellers in Malabon will not be tainted by politics. The case is still pending with the DILG.

Malacañang on Tuesday effectively ended the political crisis that broke out after Yambao sat in Vicencio’s place last April 24 on orders of the DILG despite a 60-day temporary restraining order (TRO) issued by the Court of Appeals (CA).

Late afternoon on Tuesday, DILG Secretary Joey Lina confirmed they had just received an order from Malacañang ordering the lifting of the suspension order.

The memorandum order signed by Executive Secretary Alberto Romulo dated May 7, 2003 instructed the DILG "to abide until further orders with the TRO issued by the Court of Appeals on April 29 enjoining respondents (Senior Deputy Executive Secretary Waldo Flores, the DILG, Councilor Edilberto Torres and three other opposition councilors) from implementing the order of this Office dated April 15, 2003 preventively suspending Mayor Vicencio from office for 60 days."

DILG Undersecretary Eduardo Soliman Jr. personally handed the order to Vicencio in simple ceremonies Wednesday night at the EDSA Shangri-La Hotel in Mandaluyong City.

The Malacañang order did not say why it was recalling the order.

Yambao received his walking papers from the DILG at the Manila Peninsula in Makati on the basis of Romulo’s memo directing him to relinquish his post as acting mayor and allow Vicencio to reassume his office because of the TRO.

Vicencio said his first official act is to attend to projects delayed by the crisis and work on the delivery of basic services like garbage disposal and health and school services neglected during the 12-day stand-off.