THE suspension of a mayor of a small town in another province would on any other day not attract much attention in Cebu. However, when SunStar Cebu on May 16 reported that Siaton Mayor Cezanne Fritz Diaz had yet to serve a three-month suspension, the penalty imposed by the Ombudsman eight months ago after finding Diaz guilty of simple neglect of duty, it raised eyebrows. After all, only a few days earlier, Michael Rama, the mayor of the most populous city in the Visayas, had been preventively suspended. A little over a week after Ombudsman Samuel Martires signed the suspension order and only a few days after the shocking news hit Cebu City, Vice Mayor Raymond Garcia was instructed to assume as acting mayor. The difference in the enforcement of the two suspension orders, one a penalty, the other preventive, was striking, to say the least. Both Cebu City and Siaton, a municipality of about 83,000 in Negros Oriental, are located in Region 7, Central Visayas.
Numerous mayors have presented a united front to push for the rescheduling of the barangay polls in Negros Oriental, but provincial government officials also come out in the open to oppose that proposal
THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) will decide on the proposal to defer the upcoming Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) in Negros Oriental a month before the polls on October 30.
The mayors say the postponement will provide 'an opportunity for concerted efforts to dismantle the culture of fear, instill confidence in the voters, and ensure a truly free and fair electoral environment'
Pamplona Mayor Janice Degamo and eight other mayors from Negros Oriental have appealed to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to postpone the 2023 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE) in the province, citing peace and order concerns.