No violent takeover of capitol: I'm still governor despite Comelec oust order: Padaca

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya– Embattled Isabela Gov. Grace Padaca Wednesday said the ruling of the Commission on Elections unseating her and installing her rival, former governor Benjamin Dy, was not yet final and executory.

“Nothing has changed. I’m still the governor of Isabela even if the Comelec’s Second Division came out with (the adverse) ruling,” Padaca said in a radio interview.

A former broadcaster known for her hard-hitting commentaries during her Bombo Radyo years here, Padaca said there was a process still to be followed before Dy could take over her post.

This, as Interior and Local Government Secretary Ronnie Puno said they are still waiting orders from the Comelec on its ruling on the electoral case against Padaca.

“We are still waiting for the formal implementing order or order of execution so when that comes then we will serve it,” Puno said.

Meanwhile, the Dy clan said Thursday there would be no violent takeover of the provincial capitol following Comelec ruling unseating Padaca.

“We will never use force or violence in assuming our duly elected post. Let’s wait for the legal process to take its course,” said Dy, whose family had held the governorship for more than three decades until they lost it in 2004 to Padaca, who defeated Dy’s elder brother, then incumbent governor Faustino Dy Jr., in a landslide victory.

This developed as Padaca reportedly issued Special Order 27, Series of 2009 informing provincial department heads and employees that she is still the governor.

“It’s service as usual (in the provincial government). The Comelec decision is not yet final and executory,” said Padaca, adding that her lawyers are set to file a motion for reconsideration before the entire Comelec to contest the Second Division’s ruling.

Benjamin Dy appealed to his supporters to remain calm, saying they have filed a motion before the Comelec for a writ of execution on the ruling declaring him winner in the 2007 gubernatorial race.

“We are not rushing everything. We go by the process. Anyway, it’s more important that the true will of the people has already come out,” he said.

A former three-term governor himself, Dy, 57, said the Comelec ruling favoring his election protest against the 46-year-old Padaca was not only a victory for him and his family but also for “the people of Isabela.”

In the official count of the 2007 gubernatorial race, Padaca, seeking her second term, got 237,128 votes against Dy’s 220,121, or a margin of 17,207.

The Dys, however, accused the Padaca camp of electoral fraud. The Padaca camp, for its part, though filed a counter-protest, raising the same charges.

But after a recount, the Comelec’s Second Division said in its 12,092-page ruling that Dy got 199,435 votes against Padaca’s 198,384, giving Dy a winning margin of 1,051 votes.

“We are receiving this news with mixed emotions, especially since this (electoral protest) has been what we have been waiting for 30 months,” said Dy’s younger brother, third district Rep. Faustino Dy III, who belongs to the Nationalist People’s Coalition.

A Liberal Party member, Padaca is seeking her third and final term as governor against the congressman, who is also the Lakas-Kampi-CMD official candidate. Their running mates are Reps. Edwin Uy (second district) and Rodito Albano (first district), respectively.

Padaca, who accused the Dys of portraying her as a cheater, described the Comelec decision as “very saddening but not surprising.”

The Comelec decision was met with criticisms, particularly from stalwarts of the Liberal Party, to which Padaca and Bulacan Gov. Joselito Mendoza, who was earlier ousted from his post, too, belong.

Sen. Benigno Aquino III, LP’s presidential candidate, said “the ruling was an example of Malacañang’s systematic way of crippling the critics of the crooked and abusive Arroyo administration. The (administration) will continue to silence those who want change.”

Aquino said they would not be cowed by these moves.

“We can see that Maguindanao is a result of a government addicted to corruption and drunk in power. The Filipino nation is already enraged. We will not stop until we are able to end irregularities and hopelessness through a clean and trustworthy government,” Aquino said.

Sen. Mar Roxas, Aquino’s running mate, also slammed the Comelec for allowing itself to be used by the Arroyo administration for its “vendetta” politics against local executives who have allied themselves with the opposition.

“What is at stake here is the credibility of the Comelec and the 2010 elections. Why did Comelec officials allow their institution to be used by Malacañang for its bullying tactics against its critics?” Roxas asked.

Malacañang, however Dec. 9 denied it had anything to do with the Comelec decision unseating Padaca.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita advised all the parties concerned to just follow the rule of law, saying members of the opposition are always expected to blame the Palace for their problems.

President Arroyo’s election lawyer Romulo Macalintal, who had Padaca as one of his clients before, said the Comelec ruling “is a big blow to the integrity of the Melo Commission.” He was referring to Comelec Chairman Jose Melo.

“I don’t know how we could still trust Comelec with this kind of decision in future cases involving candidates in the 2010 elections. I have some clients who are victims of scandalous decisions of the Comelec. What a shame,” Macalintal said.

The Comelec, however, insisted on its independence amid the criticisms. “Whatever happened was a simple and very mechanical appreciation of the ballots. It was just shown that some ballots were appreciated wrongly or they were appreciated in a manner that should have been based on the evidence at hand,” said Comelec spokesman James Jimenez.