Dapitan mayor, supporters, refuse to give mayoralty post to proclaimed winner

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines - Dapitan City Mayor Patri Chan refused to step down and tension mounted as her supporters barricaded the city hall in Zamboanga del Norte to prevent a candidate proclaimed by the Commission on Election (Comelec) as winner to assume the post on Tuesday.

Agapito Cardino was proclaimed by the Comelec as winner after the Supreme Court upheld the Comelec decision nullifying the candidacy of his rival in the mayoralty race- Dominador Jalosjos, Jr.- due to a conviction for a robbery case committed in 1969.

The high tribunal ordered the perpetual special disqualification from public office to Jalosjos.

Jalosjos, who ran against Cardino, won the mayoralty race in 2010 and proclaimed winner even before his case was unearthed due to the petition filed by the latter.

But before the SC ruled the decision, Jalosjos have already voluntarily resigned the post and filed his candidacy for governor in the adjacent province of Zamboanga del Sur last year.

This paved the way for vice mayor Chan to inherit the mayoralty post through the law of succession.

Chan asserted her right to keep the mayoralty post citing her lawyers that her assumption was legal and not just merely as officer-in-charge or acting mayor.

The sitting mayor also filed a petition to the high tribunal to issue a temporary restraining order pending the hearing of the motion for reconsideration she filed in court.

Comelec Commissioner Grace Padaca was scheduled to visit Dapitan to oversee the turn over and oath taking of Cadino, but due to bad weather her flight was canceled.

Police attempted to dismantle the barricade at the city hall triggering tension from among the staunch supporters of Chan.