TEMPORARY OFFICE. Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo (2nd from left) meets with provincial department heads on Monday (Oct. 10, 2022) at the Sidlakang Negros Village where he is currently holding office. Pryde Henry Teves, who insists on remaining as the governor until a Supreme Court decision says otherwise, continues to occupy the capitol. (Photo courtesy of Gov. Roel Ragay Degamo Facebook)
DUMAGUETE CITY – The province of Negros Oriental has two “governors” amid the continuing political and legal battle as to who gets to sit at the helm of the provincial government but the row is expected to end soon when the Supreme Court hands down a decision on Tuesday.
After attending the regular Monday morning flag-raising at the Negros Oriental Provincial Police Office, Roel Degamo proceeded to the Sidlakang Negros Village (SNV) in Barangay Piapi here, where he is currently holding office after being proclaimed last week by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) as the new governor.
Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) regional director Leocadio Trovela and provincial director Farah Gentuya also officially recognized Degamo last Friday as the governor of Negros Oriental.
Pryde Henry Teves, on the other hand, remains at the capitol with a battery of lawyers from Manila, and at a press conference reiterated that unless otherwise ruled by the Supreme Court, he is still the governor of the province.
Degamo called for a meeting with provincial government department heads at the SNV and threshed out matters that took place in the past three months, while Teves was still occupying the governor’s office with throngs of supporters milling around the capitol grounds.
Lawyer Ferdinand Topacio, one of Teves’ legal counsels who flew in from Manila in the morning, said he has advised his client to remain in office as governor, citing several legal reasons in relation to the nullification of the latter’s election victory.
Teves won in the last elections but the Comelec en banc in a writ of execution last Sept. 27 ruled that following the disqualification of a nuisance candidate who went by the name of Ruel Degamo, the latter’s votes were transferred to the original Degamo.
The final recount of votes earned Degamo 331,726 over Teves’ 301,319.
But Topacio claimed that Teves is not a party in the Degamo versus Degamo case, but surprisingly was affected by the decision.
He cited the “discrepancies” in the number of signatories for a “valid resolution”, as well as questioning the DILG’s authority in the execution of the Comelec’s writ of execution, among others.
The Supreme Court is expected to come up with a decision on the filing of a temporary restraining order by Teves’ camp, questioning the nullification of his election victory. (PNA)
