Pampanga mayoral row not yet over

MABALACAT CITY, Pampanga , Philippines  – The former mayor of this city is not giving up the fight to regain his seat.

Marino Morales, who was unseated after the Commission on Elections installed a new mayor last month, is waiting for the Supreme Court decision  on his petition to stop the implementation of the Comelec ruling, his lawyer Romulo Macalintal said yesterday.

“We will follow up next week since the Supreme Court was busy with martial law cases and the election protest of Sen. Ferdinand Marcos,” Macalintal said in an email to The STAR.

Macalintal said they filed the petition two weeks before provincial board member Cris Garbo, who obtained the second highest number of votes, took his oath as city mayor. 

In a resolution approved by all commissioners in May,  the poll body disqualified Morales, saying he had served for three terms.

Meanwhile, Garbo said he is confident the high tribunal would affirm the Comelec ruling.