Pagdanganan is Bulacan Governor, Comelec says

It's final: former agrarian reform secretary Roberto “Obet" Pagdanganan is Bulacan governor. The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has junked with finality the appeal of Joselito “Jonjon" Mendoza to reverse a previous decision declaring former Agrarian Reform Secretary Roberto "Obet" Pagdanganan as the rightful governor of Bulacan. In a resolution promulgated late Thursday, the Comelec en banc ordered Mendoza to cease and desist from performing the functions of the governor of Bulacan and to vacate his office in favor of Pagdaganan. Despite the decision, Mendoza can still file an appeal before the Supreme Court. The poll body has also ordered the Clerk of the Commission and the Electoral Contests and Adjudication Department to issue a writ of execution directing the provincial election supervisor and the Department of Interior and Local Government operations officer of Bulacan to implement the resolution. But the decision was reached with only second commissioners Nicodemo Ferrer, Lucenito Tagle, and Elias Yusoph voting in favor of Pagdanganan's seating. In February, the Comelec already upheld a second division ruling to declare Pagdanganan as Bulacan governor, but it was later on deemed not executory for not having a majority vote. However, during the second deliberation, Comelec chairman Jose Melo and Commissioners Gregorio Larrazabal and Armando Velasco still refused to participate. Only Commissioner Rene Sarmiento, who heads the first division, dissented. Despite this, the poll body said that there is no issue on the presence of a quorum. It cited the Supreme Court decision on Estrella versus Comelec saying that the "Comelec en banc shall decide a case or matter brought before it by a majority vote of "all its members," and not majority of the members who deliberated and voted thereon." Pagdanganan, for his part, appealed to Mendoza to just follow the ruling and quietly leave his post. "Ako ang nanalo, ikaw ang natalo, ang nanalo ang dapat manungkulan (I won, you lost, the winner should be seated)," he told reporters in an interview. "Siya naman ay dalawang taon at pitong buwan na nakaupo, di naman siya nanalao, dapat siguro magpasalamat na lang siya (He has served for two years and seven months even though he was not the winner, he should be thankful)," he added. The former cabinet official likewise asked the supporters of the unseated governor to not resist the decision. "I have always called for calm. I have consistently appealed to my supporters, I also appeal to the supporters of the other camp to keep calm," he said. Mendoza's supporters earlier created a barricade at the provincial capitol when the poll body ruled in favor of Pagdanganan, something which the latter said has become a "bad habit" of theirs. "That's wrong, that's illegal and that's immoral," said Pagdanganan. He said that he will go to the Bulacan capitol later in the afternoon to take his oath for the third time. The newly proclaimed governor took his oath when the second division first ruled in his favor and when the Comelec en banc upheld the decision. In May 2007, the Provincial Board of Canvassers proclaimed Mendoza as the duly elected governor of Bulacan with 364,566 votes against Pagdanganan's 348,834 votes, a margin of 15,732 votes. But the poll body said a recount showed that Pagdanganan actually received 342,295 votes compared to the 337,974 ballots cast in favor of Mendoza, a margin of 4,321 votes. - RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV