Nominee for vacated City Council post withdraws

ORMOC CITY , Philippines   â€“ John Eulalio Nepomuceno Omega Aparis II, known as Jay-R, one of  two nominees to fill in the vacant post of city councilor, left by his late father Councilor Nepomuceno Aparis, has officially withdrawn his acceptance to the nomination.

Jay-R asked the City Council to take out his name from the list of nominees to replace his father, who died of cancer last Sept. 30. This left Evangeline Cotiangco, a choice of  the ruling Liberal Party, as the sole nominee to the post that will be appointed by President Benigno Aquino II.

In withdrawing the nomination, Jay-R told the Council: “While it may be true that my family and I had agreed …  to the resolution,” they “were not given sufficient opportunity to weigh the same and hence agreed thereto under hurried, very emotional and difficult circumstance.”

He contended though that it should be his father’s Lakas-CMD partymates who should choose the replacement, and not the Council, which is dominated by LP members.

Those who pushed for Jay-R’s nomination, Councilors Ruben Capahi, Pedro Godiardo Ebcas, Antonio Codilla, Marina Placido and Corinne Corro, in turn wrote the Council that they were also withdrawing their affirmative votes to the resolution nominating the son of the deceased councilor.

The LP councilors however countered that the late Aparis was not a Lakas-CMD candidate when elected, because, according to the Comelec website, he and five other councilors were labeled “independents.”

Councilor Vincent Rama of  the LP, who was appointed OIC mayor during the deliberation, said Jay-R and the five councilors have made a “mockery” of the proceedings, when they manifested to withdraw their votes.

Councilor Mario Rodriguez, also of the LP, when asked for his comment on the issue, said that since Jay-R has withdrawn his acceptance to the nomination, then there was only one nominee. He added that the five councilors who withdrew their nomination votes may not be able to do it because the internal rules said that once a vote is cast it cannot be withdrawn.  (FREEMAN)