Calinog mayor to resist expulsion
Former Calinog Mayor Alex Centena said he expects the Commission on Elections to order the removal of Mayor Salvador Divinagracia, and his installation anytime this week.
But the first-termer Divinagracia, a neophyte in politics, vowed to oppose any move to unseat him, saying that he will not recognize any order by the Comelec implementing the en banc decision in favor of Centena.
Likewise, he said that the people might barricade the town hall because “they cannot stomach the injustice.”
At present though, the situation in Calinog is normal, according to Divinagracia.
“The situation in Calinog is normal; things are calm. We continue to deliver services to the people,” the mayor said.
Voting 6-0, the poll body ruled in January 26, 2009 that Centena won over Divinagracia by 11 votes during the 2007 elections. The decision, Centena argues, became final last February 25, 2009 after Divinagracia failed to secure an injunction from the Supreme Court staying the implementation of the decision. A motion for execution is pending before the Comelec.
But for Divinagracia, the Comelec cannot implement its decision yet because the Supreme Court has ordered the poll body and Centena to comment on his petition he filed in the wake of the adverse ruling.
Divinagracia and Centena faced off against each other for the vice mayoralty post in the 2007 elections; the former won. Divinagracia assumed his present position when then Mayor Teodoro Lao died after clinching the mayoralty.
Comparing himself to a puppy, Divinagracia said that a puppy, though small, will fight back when pushed to the wall.
“When you hit a puppy, it will run away. But when pushed to the wall, it will not hesitate to bite its attacker,” the mayor noted.
But Divinagracia stressed that the initiative came from the people.
I will support them, although I did not instigate them. It’s their move, he said.
“I told them to express themselves so their voices can be heard,” Divinagracia said.
The mayor said that the people cannot stomach what they perceive was the blatant injustice committed by the country’s poll body when it decided in favor of Centena.
Besides, Divinagracia added, the people no longer want Centena.