BREAKING NEWS JAVIER’S ‘END’ IS NEAR? (PANAY NEWS) front_javier_picSix-year jail term awaits Antique guv By SAMMY JULIAN SAN JOSE, Antique – A jail term of one to six years awaits beleaguered Antique governor Exequiel “Boy Ex” Javier. The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has dismissed for lack of merit Javier’s motion for reconsideration and affirmed its September 3 en banc decision indicting the governor for violating the Omnibus Election Code. Javier has been accused of violating the moratorium on the suspension of an elective official during the prohibited election period. Comelec found no cogent reason to reverse its decision, saying the arguments raised by Javier to seek suspension of the indictment were mere rehashes and did not present new or substantial points. Javier now risks losing his right to hold public office permanently, in what could become an inglorious end to his checkered political life. For over 27 uninterrupted years, he has been reigning either as governor or congressman of Antique, one of the country’s poorest provinces. The Comelec resolution, promulgated on October 25 yet, directed the poll body’s law department to charge Javier before the Regional Trial Court of Antique. Legal experts said this is a prelude to the issuance of a warrant of arrest. Javier is believed to have left the country early this week for an unknown destination, fueling speculations of flight from his imminent arrest and sending the province in a state of uncertainty. Vice Gov. Rhodora “Dodod” Cadiao is expected to assume the position of acting governor based on the provision of the law on succession, but Javier designated Sangguniang Panlalawigan member Victor Condez as officer-in-charge. Condez, in a radio interview, claimed he was unaware of the governor’s whereabouts. His designation stated he would relinquish the post upon Javier’s return. Immigration sources, however, confirmed Javier boarded an Emirates airline on October 26 for Dubai, debunking earlier pronouncements that he was due for a medical treatment in the United States for an disclosed illness. Upon learning of the Comelec’s denial of Javier’s motion for reconsideration, Valderrama’s Mayor Mary Joyce Roquero who fought the governor’s suspension order against her expressed hope that the provincial chief executive will be meted the stiffest penalty. Roquero, upon the recommendation of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, was ordered suspended by Javier this January 23 for an alleged administrative charge. The suspension order, however, fell within the prohibited mid-term election period that began on January 13 and ended on June 12. “I am relieved and happy that the Comelec has denied his appeal. Today, the Infinite Power that rules mankind’s destiny has undone what Javier has done to those he oppressed and persecuted,” said Roquero. In a related development, the Comelec also denied Javier’s petition to dismiss the electoral protest filed by lawyer Cornelio Aldon, his lone rival in the gubernatorial race. Aldon sought a recount of the votes cast for governor during May’s mid-term election. The Comelec rejected Javier’s petition to shelve the recount of the votes amid charges of rampant vote buying and widespread violations of the electoral process, resulting in what Aldon perceived to be gross violations of the election laws. Aldon’s partymate and congressional candidate, former Valderrama mayor Raymundo Roquero is also raising the twin issues of missing and nullified votes that could substantially alter election results “to prevent bogus winners from occupying their posts.” “I believe I am a victim of electoral fraud. But I am not interested in the position. I am only interested in finding out the truth so that the true will of the people is honored and the bogus winner is stripped of his post,” Roquero told Panay News./PN ~Angel~
Posted on: Fri, 01 Nov 2013 08:05:02 +0000
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