Comelec, DILG still fail to resolve NV mayoral mess

SOLANO, Nueva Vizcaya — Residents here are blaming the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Commission on Elections (Comelec) for the four-week mayoral impasse that has been affecting the operations of the municipal government.

Noli Domincel, a public elementary school teacher, said the inability of the DILG and the Comelec to resolve as to who is the rightful and legal mayor between former board member Santiago Dickson and lawyer Philip Dacayo has seriously hampered the delivery of basic services.

"We are confused as to who is the legal mayor. We don’t want to be politicized or to be identified with anyone of them that’s why we have reservations as to who we should (approach) for assistance," he said.

Norma Navoa, associate editor of the weekly Vizcaya Advocate, the province’s oldest paper, also criticized the Comelec and DILG for their inaction on the mayoralty row.

"We are now suffering the consequences of their (Comelec and DILG’s) inaction. They should now make a move to fix it before the people of Solano do it for them," she said.

The local Catholic Church, led by Bayombong Bishop Ramon Villena, could not also hide its disgust, saying the Solano folk have been deprived of genuine leadership because of the two agencies’ inability to put things in order.

Fr. Vicente Thiam, this town’s parish priest, even castigated both Dickson and Dacayo for protecting their own interests instead of thinking about the townsfolk’s welfare.

The confusion as to who is the rightful and legal mayor arose after both Dickson and Dacayo were sworn into office and took over as mayor last June 30.

Dickson, who ran and won as vice mayor in the May 10 elections, took his oath of office before Regional Trial Court Judge Jose Rosales.

Earlier that same day, Dacayo, son of Mayor Heraldo Dacayo, who was re-elected but died a day after his proclamation, was sworn into office by no less than Comelec chairman Benjamin Abalos in Manila.

In assuming the mayorship, Dacayo invoked Comelec Resolution No. 7259 dated June 30, affirming his certificate of candidacy as a lawful and legal substitute for his father.

On the other hand, Dickson cited the law of succession, which the DILG earlier had affirmed.

"Nobody is to blame here except the DILG and Comelec. They created all this mess. Plain and simple, the DILG should appoint somebody to call the shots here while the issue as to who between the mayoral claimants is the rightful one is being heard in court," said businessman and former mayor Wilson Salas.