Wife continues husband’s mayoral race

LAGUNA, Philippines – For Calixto Cataquiz, the fight is not yet over for the mayoral race in the town of San Pedro, as his wife takes over his campaign 3 days before the 2013 elections.

According to Inquirer, Cataquiz’s wife, Lourdes, filed her certificate of candidacy Friday morning, May 10, after the Commission on Elections’ (Comelec) first division on Tuesday, May 7, granted a petition filed by Cataquiz’s rival, San Pedro Vice Mayor Norvic Solidum and two others to disqualify the incumbent mayor in his bid for reelection.

Last April, Malacañang also ordered the mayoral candidate to vacate his office and heed a Sept. 14, 2011 ruling of the Supreme Court (SC). Comelec, however, stopped the implementation of the order, citing both provisions of the Election Code and Resolution 9581 that state that prior authority from the electoral body should be secured in suspending elective provincial, city, municipal and barangay officials.

In 2011, the High Court found Cataquiz guilty of graft, barring him from running for an elective local position as a result of an administrative case. The case was filed by workers’ union Concerned Employees of the Laguna Lake Development Authority (Cellda)

Cataquiz was LLDA general manager from 2001 until his dismissal in 2003 “on the grounds of corrupt and unprofessional behavior and management incompetence.”

According to Cellda, the former general manager of LLDA illegally entered into transactions with fish-pen operators–just one among many violations cited by the union body.

The SC denied Cataquiz’s motion for reconsideration last December 2012.

San Pedro was granted a city status last March 27 after the President signed Republic Act No. 10420. – Rappler.com