Comelec declares Pagdanganan Bulacan governor

MANILA, Philippines - The Commission on Elections yesterday directed its provincial election supervisor in Bulacan and the Department of Interior and Local Government to immediately implement a Dec. 1, 2009 ruling, unseating proclaimed Bulacan Gov. Joselito Mendoza.

In an 11-page resolution, the Comelec had denied Mendoza’s motion for reconsideration and upheld last year’s decision of the Second Division declaring former Bulacan governor Roberto Pagdanganan as the duly elected governor of the province in the 2007 mid-term polls.

“The Comelec denies the motion for reconsideration for lack of merit. The resolution of the Second Division, annulling the proclamation of Joselito Mendoza, and declaring Roberto Pagdanganan as duly elected to said office is affirmed with modification,” the poll body noted.

The Second Division ruled that Pagdanganan won over Mendoza by a vote margin of 4,321, owing to some votes “written by one person,” among other reasons.

The Comelec added that due to the “proximity of the end of the term of office involved, this resolution is declared immediately executory.”

The poll body had issued a “writ of execution” to its PES in Bulacan and the DILG to order Mendoza to “cease and desist from performing the functions of governor of the province of Bulacan and to vacate said office in favor of Pagdanganan.”

Dissenting opinion

But in his dissenting opinion, Comelec Commissioner Rene Sarmiento, who belongs to the First Division, said it was impossible for one person to have filled many ballots without being noticed by the election officers.

Sarmiento added the rulings on the ballots that were supposedly improperly marked were vague.

In related developments, Mendoza claimed yesterday that the resolution promulgated by the Comelec on Monday is null and void and vowed not to yield his office.

This came after the Comelec released a resolution on Monday that denied Mendoza’s motion as it affirmed the second division’s decision on Dec. 1 nullifying Mendoza’s proclamation and ordering him to vacate the Office of the Governor.

The resolution also includes the writ of execution in favor of Pagdanganan, which ordered Mendoza to cease and desist from performing the function of the governor of the province of Bulacan and vacate the said office in favor of the latter.

In a press conference held at his office, Mendoza and two other lawyers – Jolette Fajardo and Enrique dela Cruz took turns in saying that the latest Comelec decision is null and void.

They said that the decision is legally infirm as it did not follow the rules and procedure of the Comelec that requires a majority vote.

Based on the copy of the Comelec resolution, Commissioners Lucenito Tagle, Elias Yussoph and Nicodemo Ferrer voted in favor f Pagdanganan, while Commissioner Rene Sarmiento voted for Mendoza and penned a dissenting opinion.

Commissioners Gregorio Larrazabal, Armando Velasco and Chairman Jose Melo did not take part in the voting.

Mendoza’s camp claimed that the resolution is irregular as it does not have the majority.

However, Juan Pagdanganan, the younger brother of ex-governor Pagdanganan said that “a decision is a decision” while lawyer Sabino Mejarito said it is not necessarily void.

The younger Pagdanganan said that it is uncalled for the Mendoza camp to claim that the decision is void saying that the commissioners know the law.