Sham recall petition puts mastermind on the spot

On Feb. 5, 2015, a group of citizens from Puerto Princesa City, Palawan, whom I represent, filed in the City Prosecutor’s Office 20 counts of falsification against Alroben Goh for masterminding a petition of a recall election against our incumbent Mayor Lucilo Bayron.

It will be recalled that on March 17, 2014, Goh filed in the Office of the City Election Officer of Puerto Princesa City a recall petition against incumbent Mayor Bayron for alleged loss of confidence. In it, Goh certified that he had caused the preparation of the petition for recall, and that the contents of the petition were true based on his personal knowledge and on authentic records/documents.

However, many citizens vehemently denied that they signed, much less were aware of signing any such document pertaining to the recall election or of ever extending any support thereto; that, without their knowledge and consent, their names, addresses and imitated signatures were incorporated as part of the alleged thousands of signatures supporting the recall election.

They said that no handwriting expert is needed to see the wide difference, in stroke and writing style, between the signatures on the signature sheet Goh attached to the petition and their real signatures.

They also accused Goh of knowingly and intentionally introducing before the Commission on Elections their imitated signatures, alleging therein their support for a recall election against Mayor Bayron.

The complainants strongly protested the allegation that they were supporting the petition for recall and labeled as patently “false” their alleged participation in it. They said they never pledged and will never pledge support for a petition for recall against Mayor Bayron. More citizens of Puerto Princesa have signified their readiness to file similar cases of falsification against Goh relative to the recall petition the latter initiated.

It may be recalled that in the 2013 elections, the citizens of Puerto Princesa elected Bayron as their new mayor. Bayron then was widely seen as a reformer and good governance advocate. Indeed, immediately after he assumed his post, he put Puerto Princesa’s coffers back in the black by implementing sound fiscal management, paying all outstanding obligations and increasing efficiency in business tax and realty tax collection.

Also, in 2013, 694,000 tourists (a historic high) visited the city. In Bayron’s first seven months in office—from July 2013 to January 2014—tourist arrivals recorded in 2012-2013 were surpassed by more than 12,000 tourists.

Bayron also took concrete steps to address poverty by implementing wide-ranging social services programs to different sectors such as students’ assistance, senior citizens’ assistance, and city scholarships.

Certainly, the people of Puerto Princesa will not allow a sham recall election to remove a reformer that has done so much in such a short time.

—JEAN LOU AGUILAR,

puertoprincesa.

goodgovernance

@gmail.com