Wife to replace jailed Batangas mayor

BATANGAS, Philippines – The wife of jailed Mataasnakahoy Mayor Jay Manalo Ilagan, who was elected vice mayor, is likely to take over his post.

Noel Bartolabac, provincial director of the Department of the Interior and Local Government, said if Ilagan, who won in his reelection bid, could not assume his post on June 30, Janet Ilagan would act as mayor.

Janet garnered 7,478 votes against Henry Laqui’s 4,892 votes.

Ilagan garnered 7,041 votes against Gual Silva who got 5,718 votes and Mel Regalado with 564 votes.

Eric Ebite, Mataasnakahoy election officer, said Ilagan was proclaimed even though his certificate of candidacy (COC) was cancelled because he has a pending appeal before the Commission on Elections.

The poll body’s second division cancelled Ilagan’s COC for misrepresentation, noting that he was a fugitive from justice when he filed it.

Ilagan went into hiding in 2014 after a warrant for his arrest was issued in connection with the rape and human trafficking cases he is facing. A 19-year-old woman accused the mayor of raping her in a pension house in Ormoc City on Nov. 5, 2013.

He surrendered to the National Bureau of Investigation in January and has since been detained in Ormoc.