From Mindanao Gold Star Daily
Borromeo seeks order to allow takeover
Cris Diaz
Dr. Carousel Borromeo on Monday afternoon asked a regional trial court that declared her mayor of Balingasag, Misamis Oriental, to isuue an order that would allow her to take over the town hall. Borromeo sought a writ of execution pending appeal from the 37th branch of the Regional Trial Court here.
Her motion came after Judge Jose Escobido, in a Feb. 6 decision, declared Borromeo the winner in Balingasag mayoral race by a wide margin of 1,082. The Feb. 6 decision also voided the proclamation of Alex Quina by the local Commission on Elections (COMELEC). Quina was declared mayor last year based on the Comelec count that showed him ahead by 295 votes. But Borromeo protested Quina’s proclamation and filed an election protest with the regional trial court. She claimed there was massive fraud and sought a recount of all the votes cast in 186 polling precincts in Balingasag.
During the recount, the court found out that Borromeo won with 11,718 votes as against Quina’s 10,712. The Cour found a difference of 1,006 votes in Borromeo’s favor plus 76 other votes which were not credited to the doctor or a total winning margin of 1,082.
In a separate report by Susan Palmes, “Judge sends poll protest to Manila”, Governor Oscar Moreno was shocked of Escobido’s decision. He said he could not understand how it was possible for Borromeo to be deprived of votes in last year’s elections when her family was in control of the town government at that time. Borromeo’s husband Felix was mayor of Balingasag last year. He is now the town’s vice mayor. “How could they be defrauded?” asked Moreno who hails from Balingasag. Moreno called on Balingasag residents including warring political camps to remain calm.
February 26, 2008 at 10:44 pm
Portionof Balatukan Mountain is acestral domain claim of PAMALIHI TRIBAL COUNCIL based in Balingasag and Claveria both in the province of Misamis Orinetal. Is the Higaonon folks informed ?
March 10, 2008 at 8:50 am
The warring Clans and Politics of Balingsag…..
I am writing this comment from the point of view of a bystander considering that the protagonists in this Mayoralty dispute are ALL riends and distant relatives.
Mayor Alexis Quina is bossom-buddy and classmate from elementary to highschool. Only two of us became lawyers from our 1978 batch of St. Ritas College in Balingasag. Alex is a distant relative because her mom is a Salvacion whose clan if affinated with the Madroños.
Ex-Mayor, now Vice Mayor, Felix Borromeo is a good friend and fellow rotarian in RI District 3870. His family is also a distant relative because his mom is an Jojas whose clan is affinated also with the Madroños. His wife, Dra. Carousel, is the defeated Mayoralty candidate, whose Electoral protest was given due course by Judge Joe Escobido.
Judge Joe Escobido is a good friend of mine, and i can vouch for his integrity and impartiality. He disfavors any attempt of intercession for cases pending before him. His sala is one of the only 3 special courts in Cagayan De Oro city.
Governor Oscar Moreno is also a very good friend and distant relative, his grandmother from maternal side being a Madroño.
The protagonists on this political drama, except Judge Escobido, and first of its kind in Balingasag, are all related by blood by affinity.
But politics in Balingsag, as in any places around, tanscends beyond blood relations, and what is appalling is the sad state of economic affair that what Balingasag had been into since time immemorial.
The Borromeos, for more than 20 long years had the chance to change the sordid state of economy of Balingasag, and there the view that a Borromeo husband and wife, as vice mayor and mayor respectively, would be too much a pill to swallow. If this was the voice of the people conveyed i an electoral ballot, only the people themselves to blame. They shall forever dwell on the quagmire of a Borromeo dynasty putting to shame our “anti-dynasty” law.
Had i been into the shoes of Judge Escobido, i could have resolved the dispute not from purely “electoral protest” rules but prescending as well from the “anti-dynaty” law that we have. Voiding or sustaining the validity of a “ballot” can have multiple legal justifications if a sitting judge weighs the entire equation of the dispute vis-a-vis what is morally right and legally justifiable. And from this writer’s point of view, the only issue to be resolved is whether the interest of Balingasag would be best served if a husband and wife should be permitted to run the political affairs of the town.
It is my considered opinion that when this case reached the Supreme Court, the appeal will be decided on this issue. If the consensus of the justices disfavors political dynasty, it would be easy for a legal mind to find juridprudence to validate the votes in favor of Mayor Alexis Quina.
March 13, 2008 at 4:33 am
where are you ? is there a reason why ur not texting me or answering my emails? pls respond thanks