Guimba, Nueva Ecija: New Vice Mayor installed

GUIMBA, Nueva Ecija - The vice mayor of this town, after serving for two years, was unseated.

This after the Commission on Elections (Comelec) en banc dismissed the petition of the incumbent vice mayor in favor of the ruling of Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 31 Judge Napoleon Sta. Romana.

Sta. Romana has declared Roseller De Guzman as the real winner over the initially proclaimed vice mayor Angelina Dela Cruz in the May 14, 2007 elections.

De Guzman took his oath of office before Gov. Aurelio Umali at the provincial Capitol before formally assuming his post as "duly elected vice mayor" of Guimba on Wednesday.

In his Nov. 26, 2007 decision, Sta. Romana ruled that De Guzman won over his rival, Angelina Dela Cruz.

"Wherefore, judgment is hereby rendered declaring the protestant, Roseller T. De Guzman, as the winner for the vice mayoralty position with plurality of 776 votes," part of the court's decision reads.

Dela Cruz was proclaimed winner by the municipal board of canvasser after the May 2007 voting.

But De Guzman filed the election protest before the RTC which in turn managed to issue a decision, consisting of 689 pages, within the six months regulatory period.

After the recount ot votes from numerous precincts, the court found De Guzman to have garnered 11,373 votes as against dela Cruz's 10,597 votes.

Dela Cruz appealed the Court decision to the Comelec. However, an order signed by Comelec Chairman Jose Melo and six other commissioners dismissed Dela Cruz's petition in an en banc resolution dated April 23, 2007.

De Guzman said the Comelec resolution prompted the RTC to issue a writ of execution on May 19, 2009.

The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) implemented the writ with Sheriff IV Inocencio Garampil III, said de Guzman.