CABANATUAN CITY – Barely a few days before the date its set for a plebiscite for the conversion of this city into a highly urbanized one, the Commission on Elections has cancelled the holding of the said exercise on Nov. 8 and instead sought to find time to finalizea new date, once funds are available.
The Comelec en banc issued Minute Resolution 17- 0732 dated Oct. 21, 2-14 which cancelled the Nov. 8 plebiscite and resetting it to a later date. The Resolution was released Nov. 4. Commissioners Lucenito Tagle, Christian Robert Lim, Louie Tito Guia, Elias Yusoph, Al Parreno and Arthur Lim signed the resolution.
Chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. was on official business at the time of the signing of the resolution although his signature appeared on the document, apparently as a belated signatory. In issuing the resolution, the Comelec approved the recommendation of deputy executive director for operations Bartolome Sinocruz Jr. that the new date will be finalized upon the receipt of the certificate of availability of funds from the city government.
In a previously issued resolution which set the poll on Nov. 8, the Comelec placed at P100.9 million the financial requirement for the plebiscite, of which P47.5 million is to be remitted to the Comelec. Leonardo Navarro, city election officer, said his office has yet to receive a certificate of availability of funds from the city government.
In a memorandum, Sinocruz directed provincial election supervisor Panfilo Doctor and Navarro to implement the resolution. Navarro said preparations have been enough for this city but could not ascertain the readiness of other offices in the rest of Nueva Ecija.
The province has five cities and 27 municipalities which are allowed by the Supreme Court to participate in the voting.
Navarro said that as early as January, the Comelec Cabanatuan office has been 100 percent ready for the plebiscite but the Supreme Court stopped them from proceeding with it through its issuance of a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO).
The HUC is contained in Presidential Proclamation 418 issued on July 4, 2012 by President Aquino. For the process to be complete, the proclamation needed to be ratified in a plebiscite. Gov. Aurelio Umali opposed the conversion, being proposed by the administration of Mayor Julius Cesar Vergara, and sought that the entire province be allowed to vote.
The plebiscite was initially slated on December 1, 2012 but this was postponed by the issuance of a TRO by the Palayan City Regional Trial Court. Subsequently, the Comelec issued a resolution postponing the plebiscite because of its proximity to the elections.
The Supreme Court directed the Comelec to hold the plebiscite after ruling that all registered voters in the province should vote, granting a petition for certiorari filed by Umali seeking to stop two earlier Comelec resolutions setting the dates for the conduct of the plebiscite on December 1, 2012 and January 25, 2014 but with only registered voters of the city allowed to vote.
Last January, the SC issued the TRO stopping the Comelec from proceeding with the plebiscite scheduled on January 25. Last September, the Comelec scheduled the plebiscite for November 8.
