SUMMARY
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ZAMBOANGA DEL NORTE, Philippines – The government of Tampilisan, a sleepy 4th class municipality in the middle of Zamboanga del Norte, is paralyzed.
Mayor Angeles Carloto II has been holed up, along with his supporters and local government employees, at the municipal hall since February 11 because he refuses to heed a court order for him to step down.
Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 28 of nearby Liloy town ruled against Carloto in the electoral protest filed against him by his rival in 2013, Alson Chan.
“Over my dead body!” Carloto said earlier this week, when Rappler asked whether he would yield to the court order.
The local police have refused to assist RTC sheriff Justino Fernandez III in implementing the court order to “physically remove” Carloto from the municipal Hall and install Chan as the new mayor.
Legal battle
On January 15, 2014, Judge Oscar Tomarong decided in favor of Chan’s election protest and issued a writ of execution pending appeal.
Carloto went to the Commission on Elections (Comelec), asking for a view of the RTC decision and for the issuance of a temporary restraining order and writ of preliminary injunction against Tomarong’s decision and writ of execution.
The Comelec Second Division issued a writ of preliminary injunction on April 30, 2014. On January 28 this year, however, the same division dismissed Carloto’s petition for certiorari.
Tomarong said the latest decision effectively dissolved the writ of preliminary injunction, paving the way for the implementation of his ruling to unseat Carloto.
Carloto filed a motion for reconsideration before the Comelec en banc on February 9. However, since the commission has not issued any TRO, the judge, on February 11, ordered Carloto removed and Chan installed.
Police assistance
Court sheriff Fernandez went to the Tampilisan municipal hall on February 11 to serve the court order, but Carloto refused to receive it.
The sheriff said he asked assistance from Police Chief Superintendent Edgar Basbas, acting director of Police Regional Office 9 (Western Mindanao).
On February 23, Basbas ordered the officer-in-charge of the Zamboanga del Norte Police Provincial Office, Police Superintendent Redentor Retusto, to direct the Zamboanga del Norte Police Public Security Company (ZNPPSC) to assist Fernandez in implementing the court order.
On the same day, Retusto issued an order to the commander of ZNPPSC to assist Fernandez, but the sheriff said on the afternoon of February 25 that no police assistance arrived in Tampilisan.
A police officer, who refused to be identified, said it was difficult for them to assist the sheriff out of fear of being re-assigned to Basilan or to “triple SB” – the Municipalities of Siocon, Sirawai, Sibuco, and Baliguian in Zamboanga del Norte, where the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) maintains a battalion-size camp.
Carloto is an ally of the provincial governor in the Liberal Party, while Chan is with the Nacionalista Party. – Rappler.com
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