Bulacan mayor finally suspended for 6 months

SAN MIGUEL, Bulacan — After clinging to his post for two months, thanks to a temporary restraining order, this town’s mayor finally found himself suspended for six months by the Office of the Ombudsman.

Vice Mayor Roderick Tiongson assumed the post of suspended Mayor Edmundo Jose Buencamino in an acting capacity until mid-April next year, while councilor John Mendez took over as the presiding officer of the municipal council in the next six months.

Buencamino, who ran under the Partido ng Masang Pilipino, bested three other mayoral candidates in the 2004 elections.

But midway into his three-year term, Rosemoor Mining and Development Corp. filed a complaint for grave misconduct, abuse of authority and conduct prejudicial to the interest of the service against him in the Office of the Ombudsman.

Rosemoor alleged that Buencamino caused the illegal collection of "passway fees" from trucks hauling marble blocks from Mt. Mabio on the northwestern part of Doña Remedios Trinidad town.

Buencamino, however, said he was just implementing a municipal ordinance enforcing the collection of such fees from marble haulers.

But the municipal council said the ordinance could not be enforced as the provincial board did not approve it when it was passed in 1989.

Last April, the Ombudsman ruled against Buencamino, but he received the order only last July.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government failed to carry out the order as Buencamino managed to secure a TRO last Aug. 16.

Last Tuesday, the townsfolk massed in front of the parish church waiting for news if Buencamino was able to obtain an extension of the TRO or a permanent injunction, while Tiongson took his oath of office before Judge Philbert Iturralde of the Angeles City regional trial court.

Dr. Lourdes Pandico, DILG provincial director, said Buencamino’s TRO lapsed on Wednesday afternoon or a day after Tiongson took his oath of office in Angeles City, Pampanga.

Pandico and DILG regional director Josefina Castillo Go installed Tiongson as town mayor before dusk on Wednesday after confirming that Buencamino failed to secure an extension of the TRO or a permanent injunction.

Tiongson and Mendez vowed to unify the town divided by political rivalry.

Tiongson claimed that Buencamino had accepted his fate. The suspended mayor, however, could not be reached for comment.

Mendez said they will look for ways to reduce municipal spending following the warning of the Commission on Audit that the town might be demoted from a Class A to a Class B municipality.

Guiguinto Mayor Ambrosio Cruz, president of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines’ Bulacan chapter, expressed sadness on Buencamino’s suspension.

"While we sympathize with Mayor Buencamino, we have to respect the law and recognize temporarily the duly sworn successor until his suspension order is lifted," he said.