Lagon: I may assume as mayor in 10 days
Businesswoman Daphne Lagon is not in a hurry to sit as the new mayor of Tuburan town.
In a phone interview with Cebu Daily News on Sunday, Lagon said that she might assume office after more or less 10 days.
This is because her camp had yet to file their request for the Regional Trial Court judge to issue a writ of execution while her opponent, incumbent Mayor Democrito Diamante would contest her victory.
Lagon said that she would file her request for a writ of execution on Tuesday.
The courts are closed on Monday because of a nationwide transport strike.
“I am willing to wait,” Lagon said.
She also said that she would submit her request for a writ of execution which would be resolved by the court in five to ten days.
The RTC in Toledo City earlier declared Lagon the rightful winner in the 2016 elections for the Tuburan mayor’s post in a court supervised manual recount of 11 contested precincts.
Lagon won by 93 votes in the recount.
Diamante, who is from the Liberal Party, was ordered to vacate his post by the court and for Lagon to assume as mayor of Tuburan, a northwestern town at least 113 km from Cebu City.
In a previous interview, Cebu Provincial Election Supervisor Lionel Marco Castillano presented options for both parties.
Castillano said that Lagon, who was declared the rightful mayor after winning the court supervised manual recount, could request the court to issue a writ of execution pending appeal to sit as the Tuburan mayor while Diamante, who was ordered to vacate his post, could file an appeal at the
Commission on Elections (Comelec) central office in Manila with the request for the issuance of a temporary restraining order to prevent Lagon from assuming as mayor.
When asked if she is not worried if Diamante would be able to file temporary restraining order (TRO) at the Commission on Elections in Manila, Lagon said she is confident that Diamante will not be granted the TRO.
“I’m confident that he (Diamante) will not be able to get TRO since he needs a strong ground against me. I have stronger grounds against him,” Lagon said.
Amid the local government crisis the town is facing, the town police are also preparing for any untoward incident.
Supt. Marlu Conag, Tuburan Police Station chief, said that the town has been peaceful over the weekend.
Conag also said that they were also preparing for expected protests today.
“Kaso may flag ceremony sa municipal hall so we are expecting baka may mangyari (There will be a flag raising ceremony at the municipal hall so we are preparing for any untoward incident that might happen there),” Conag said.
He also said that he had already notified the Provincial Public Safety Company (PPSC) to be ready to help them just in case any untoward incident might happen.