8,000 rally in Legazpi to back unseated mayor

04 June 2006

LEGAZPI CITY—SOME 8,000 RESIdents of this city took part in a rally to protest a Commission on Elections decision removing Noel Rosal as the city mayor and replacing him with his closest rival, Michael Victor Imperial.

The protesters carried streamers assailing the Comelec for “killing... democracy... and wasting the votes of the people of Legazpi.”

Other streamers said Comelec was bribed to rule in favor of Imperial.

“We are not in favor of the Comelec decision. I was a poll watcher during the elections and there was no fraud that happened. We cannot accept this because we believe that this is the modus operandi of the Comelec. Time will come when the people will lose their trust on the Comelec and no longer vote,” Rosita Ajero, a resident of Barangay Binanuahan, said.

Legazpi City Vice Mayor Jess Rico Salazar expressed disappointment, saying the Comelec, in coming up with its decision, did not even check the results of the elections.

“The mandate of the people should not be changed. You will see in this protest that the masses are enraged. I am glad that the people of Legazpi are not nonchalant about the Comelec’s violation of their rights as voters,” Salazar said.

He also said the Comelec’s decision was unfair because it did not allow evidence to be presented.
“We have to change those people in the Comelec who make the institution less credible,” the vice mayor added.

In his speech, Rosal tagged accusations that he cheated during the elections as “irresponsible.”

“If you want to be a leader, you have to learn to accept defeat,” he quipped.

The mayor also said it was not manageable for him to cheat the 14,000 votes declared invalid by the Comelec.

“I hope that as I file an appeal to the Supreme Court, it will be enlightened by giving the teachers a chance to present the true picture,” Rosal said.

The teachers have claimed that their signatures on the election returns in the hands of the Comelec were faked and that the Comelec did not allow them to air their side.

After Rosal’s speech, a retired teacher ran to him crying.
At least 70 members of the Legazpi City Public School Teachers and Employees Association Inc. (Leciptea) participated in the protest rally.

The Comelec en banc ruling was made on a pre-proclamation protest filed by Imperial against Rosal questioning the results in 520 voting precincts, citing alleged various irregularities. Ephraim Aguilar, PDI Southern Luzon Bureau