Saga of Sally Perez

What was intended by the law to cleanse government posts of incapable officials seems to have been turned around to serve the interests of political rivals. At least that is the impression that observers have regarding the case of Antique Gov. Sally Zaldivar-Perez whom her opponents want to unseat by virtue of the power of recall.

Recall was instituted in the Constitution and the Local Government Code as the people’s instrument to remove from office incompetent or bad officials. But in the case of Governor Perez, whom local officials of some towns in the southern province want out, that provision has become something of a moro-moro.

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Sally is a personal friend of mine, and I know that she has put mind, heart and soul into her position. It’s a pity that she has to resort to writing letters to the editor to show her constituents how well she’s doing as governor. Barely three years in office, she was able to get Antique out of Club 20 as one of the poorest of the poor provinces. The Department of Finance has confirmed that by declaring Antique as a second-class province "from a third class province mired in deep poverty" – the words of Sally – and "we are now… aiming for the next best thing – to be a first-class province."

Never before has Antique received generous largesse from friends and supporters who believe in Sally’s capabilities. Her friends and supporters have beefed up the province’s development funds. There’s Sen. John Osmeña, who allocated P12 million from his Senate funds for major infrastructure projects; there’s Sen. Loren Legarda with her contribution of P5-million for surgical equipment of the provincial hospital and P10 million for the Lipata port in Culasi. Senator Edgardo Angara has pledged P5 million for secondary school buildings. On top of all that, President Macapagal-Arroyo has approved a P68-million Solong Bridge in Sibalom; this bridge will serve 20 barangays.

Sally talks of giant strides being made in the areas of education, agricultural modernization, employment, peace, health, and social welfare. Care is taken to conserve natural resources and the environment, which programs have attracted foreign investors.

Halla Development Corporation, which is Korean-owned, wants to invest in muscovado sugar and electrification projects, says Sally. There is a plan too, to put up a version of CALABARZON in Western Visayas, with Antique at the center of the proposed development zone.

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Amid those accomplishments, she has been accused of misuse of funds: buying a used Nissan Safari (model 1995) and two other second-hand vehicles, some cell phones, and three generators. Her detractors charge that the used Safari does not bear the "For Official use Only" marking.

Sally says her detractors had so magnified the purchases to make it appear that she has committed plunder. "Antique is one of the few provinces where the governor moves around in a seven-year-old vehicle." But to her detractors, this is "a capital sin." The cell phones are necessary to provide links to the outside world, and the generators are "to light us during dark days, where power is out."

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Newspaper columnists have pointed out that the recall drive against Perez has been launched by mayors beholden to Antique’s longtime "political kingpin," Rep. Ezekiel Javier, brother of the late Evelio Javier who was slain by his political opponents during the Marcos regime. Sally was one of Evelio’s avid supporters.

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As of October 1st, local officials met as a preparatory recall assembly in the town of Sibalom and approved a resolution calling for a recall election of Governor Perez. The assembly, held at the Belison Public Market, consited of 216 local officials; 122 of them signed the resolution. The minimum 109 signatures needed were exceeded. Only 50 percent plus one votes are needed for a recall election.

Of the 123 officials, 10 were mayors and 11 vice mayors. Antique province has a total of 18 mayors, 18 vice mayors and 180 Sangguniang Bayan members. Present was Sibalom Mayor Christopher Piccio who said that Perez has been "extravagant, ineffective, inefficient, arrogant and vengeful to her perceived political enemies".

The next move is that of Comelec-Antique, which shall authenticate the signatures attached to the resolution. Then the documents will be forwarded to the Comelec regional office for another round of verification, and finally, to the central office in Manila.

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The recall system was inserted in the Local Government Code of 1991 by House members who argued that it was cheaper and less difficult than the previous recall proviso that allowed a recall through direct vote by 25 percent of registered voters. Under the 1991 proviso, the preparatory recall assembly (PRA), composed of barangay chairpersons and Sanggunian members in recall cases against mayors and vice mayors and barangay chairpersons can vote for the recall of targeted officials. But this system can be manipulated by politicians who for one reason or another want to unseat an incumbent local official.

A ruling, penned by then Supreme Court Associate Justice Hilario Davide in the case of Bataan Gov. Enrique Garcia raised in the Comelec, said that "since recall is constitutionally mandated…it goes without saying that it is a power reserved to the people to be exercised by the registered voters." However, following the US system upon which our recall system is patterned, allows only the direct vote by the people, Davide said that the PRA is "unconstitutional because it amounts to an undue delegation of the power of recall."

On October 8, senators crossed party lines in pushing for the deletion of this proviso which allows a simple majority of a PRA, saying this mode gives rise to a grave political crisis in any province, city, or town.

Senator Loren Legarda and Senate Minority Leader Vicente Sotto III pointed to the need to amend the Code to abolish the PRA following reports that the asembly is being used. Sen. Edgardo J. Angara, chairman of the Senate constitutional amendments committee, noted in a public hearing on the proposal to delete the PRA provision, stating that the recall process is "causing havoc, confusion, and instability in municipal and provincial governments all over the country."

Angara said that 80 percent of the recall system is almost done through the PRA, "which is quite easy to convene and gather." The unanimous decision or opinion today, he said, is to eliminate this PRA, "and if there is going to be a recall, then let the people directly initiate the recall by having 25 percent of the actual voters initiate it."

Let’s wait for the Comelec ruling on the Perez case. Sally is too good an official to be booted out by her political enemies.

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My e-mail address: [email protected]