Supreme Court orders status quo in Palawan gov row

The Supreme Court ordered yesterday a status quo in the ongoing tussle over the Palawan gubernatorial seat.

The tribunal stopped Douglas Hagedorn, brother of Puerto Princesa City Mayor Edward Hagedorn, from taking over as governor even if the Commission on Elections, in a resolution last week, declared him winner in the 1998 gubernatorial race.

The poll body, citing massive fraud and vote-buying, annulled the proclamation of Gov. Salvador Socrates, who went missing after a plane crash on July 2 last year. Vice Gov. Mario Joel Reyes subsequently acted as governor.

The High Court acted on Reyes’ petition for the issuance of a temporary restraining order and voiding of the Comelec resolution.

Reyes argued, among other things, that Hagedorn was a poor second placer to Socrates, getting only 57,481 votes versus Socrates’ 146,299 votes.

Tension has gripped the Palawan provincial capitol since Monday when Reyes’ supporters put up barricades to prevent Hagedorn from assuming office. — Delon Porcalla, Cecille Suerte Felipe