Actress wants to take over late brod's Malabon council post

MANILA, Philippines - Actress Angelika de la Cruz said yesterday she wants to fill the vacancy in the Malabon City council left by the death of her brother, District 2 councilor-elect Edward de la Cruz, who was killed in a road accident along North Expressway in Masantol, Pampanga last week.

“I played a role in the political victory of my brother,” she said in television interview. Edward was ranked third among the councilors in his district in the recently concluded polls.

Under the Local Government Code, any vacancy in the council of a highly urbanized city can be filled through the recommendation of the president through the executive secretary.

Ferdinand Rafanan, chief of the Commission on Elections legal division, told The STAR that incoming president Benigno Aquino III will appoint after June 30 the new councilor to fill up the vacancy, but the replacement must be a member of the party to which De la Cruz belonged, the Liberal Party, and must be nominated by the party president.

This is the second time in one year that a member of the city council in the same district city council in the same district died. When councilor Alfonso “Boyong” Mañalac died in September 2009, his son, Merlin, took over his post. He ran for the same post under the Nationalist People’s Coalition ticket last May 10, but lost, landing in seventh place.

When asked about having Merlin step in and fill the vacancy, Rafanan said the Comelec can no longer do so because the candidates have been proclaimed.