2 claim to be Santiago’s rightful mayor

SANTIAGO CITY, Isabela — Expect tension to rise again in this town today.

This, as two high-ranking officials, both claiming to be the rightful mayor, vowed to assume the post today — "at all cost."

Vice Mayor Chito Manubay took his oath as mayor last Thursday, two days after the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) ordered Mayor Jose Miranda to vacate his post in compliance with a Sandiganbayan ruling suspending him for 90 days for "usurpation of authority."

Manubay vowed to take over City Hall today on orders of DILG regional director Renato Brion who would deploy policemen in case Miranda refuses to vacate his post.

Relying on an unnumbered resolution dated July 16 and signed by DILG Undersecretary Eduardo Soliman Jr., Brion, accompanied by policemen, served the notice of suspension at City Hall at about 5:30 p.m. last Thursday and thereafter, swore in Manubay.

However, Miranda, who was no longer at City Hall when Brion’s party arrived, vowed not to step down.

He said a recent en banc resolution of the Supreme Court renders the DILG order "null and void."

The day before Manubay took his oath, Miranda obtained a temporary restraining order and a "cease-and-desist" order from the High Court, thus preventing his suspension.

Ma. Luisa Villarama, the Supreme Court’s assistant clerk of court, signed the tribunal’s two-page resolution dated July 19.

Despite the resolution, Manubay stood firm on his decision to assume the post.

Miranda said Brion’s stand "undermines the rule of law and a smack on the integrity of the DILG."

"Despite acknowledging receipt of the Supreme Court’s order, Brion still issued a memorandum advising Manubay to continue discharging the duties and responsibilities of the office of the city mayor in an acting capacity," he said.

Acting on orders of the Sandiganbayan, Soliman directed Miranda’s 90-day suspension for "illegally reassuming his post" in 1997 while still serving a seven-month suspension for his alleged links to jueteng operations here.

Then Vice Mayor Amelita Navarro sought Miranda’s suspension.