Antique mayor vows to hold on post

CEBU, Philippines -  Mayor Mary Joyce Roquero has declared she will hold on to her post as mayor of Valderama town in Antique, saying that she has the support of the people.

“I am still the head of Valderama,” Roquero said, insisting that she has the law to back up her stand against her suspension that drove her supporters to barricade the town hall in a standoff against the designated acting mayor, Vice Mayor Christopher Maguad.

Last January 23, Governor Exequiel Javier ordered Roquero’s suspension based on the charges filed by Maguad before the Antique Provincial Board.

Maguad said Roquero violated the zoning ordinance by giving a business permit to a gasoline station to operate despite its location, which is less than 100 meters from a public place, specifically the Seventh Day Adventist Church.

However, a week before that, the Antique Regional Trial Court handed a 20-day temporary restraining order against the suspension order. Roquero contended that a preliminary injunction and a permanent injunction were then handed subsequently, and later on a cease and desist order was issued against her suspension.

Aside from the court order, Roquero argued that the suspension order violated Comelec Resolution No. 9581 in relation to Section 261 of the Omnibus Election Code as amended. “An elected official could not be suspended 120 days before the election,” said the embattled mayor, while believing that the case against her was politically-motivated.

Roquero is seeking reelection under the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) party while her previous allies, Maguad and Javier, are with the Liberal Party. The mayor’s husband, former Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office director Rey Roquero, will also be running for Congress against Javier’s son, Paolo.

Before the suspension, Mayor Roquero had figured in a legal battle with Maguad after she ordered a temporary closure of the latter’s gasoline station. She said she ordered the closure due to the station’s violations as noted by the Department of Energy. “I was hoping they would correct their violations pero deadma lang sila,” she said.

If she was culpable for violating the zoning ordinance by granting a business permit to another gasoline station, Maguad should also be held for the same breach, said the mayor. “His (Maguad) gasoline station is also located within the 100-meter radius. But the thing is, the ordinance mentioned is deemed ineffective because it was not published in a newspaper. In essence, it was not passed,” Roquero said.

The mayor alleged that Maguad only looked for a way to file a case against her. “Their allies dominate the PB. They railroaded the case against me,” she said, adding that last Monday, she questioned her suspension before the Comelec, and filed a case for indirect contempt against Javier before the Antique RTC.

Meanwhile, a team from the Antique Provincial Public Safety Company was sent to augment local policemen of Valderama due to the tension between the suspended mayor and Maguad.

Superintendent Marloe Marfil, OIC of Antique Provincial Police Office (APPO), said they would just maintain peace and order and avert possible violence. “We are standing on neutral ground,” he said adding that even Javier did not order them to act against Roquero.

Maguad, on the other hand, believed that the supporters who barricaded the town hall were “paid supporters,” who were allegedly given rice and assured of being listed beneficiaries of the government’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4P’s). (FREEMAN)