Mindanao Newsbits
Tawi-Tawi town has new mayor
By NONOY E. LACSON
February 6, 2010, 3:27pm
ZAMBOANGA CITY – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Thursday has ruled with finality, declaring Putli Aisa Matolo as the duly elected mayor of Sapa-Sapa town in Tawi-Tawi.
The Comelec in an en banc decision dated February 4, 2010 declared Matolo as the duly elected mayor of Sapa-Sapa, Tawi-Tawi, saying it “is final and executory” and is accompanied by a writ of execution as well as entry of judgment.
The Comelec has also ordered Al-Saggab Mohammad Ali, to cease and desist from discharging the powers and functions of the Office of the Mayor of Sapa-Sapa town, and to vacate the office of the municipal mayor in favor of Matolo.
The Comelec declared Matolo as the duly elected mayor in the May 14, 2007 national and local elections with 2,295 votes as against Ali’s 1,935 votes, or a margin of 360 votes, reversing and setting aside the decision of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 5 in Bongao that favors Ali after she contested the RTC’s decision before the electoral body.
The Electoral Contests Adjudication Department (ECAD) furnished copies of the Comelec decision to the Office of the President, the Secretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), the chairman of the Commission on Audit (CoA), and the Secretary of the Sangguniang Bayan of Sapa-Sapa, Tawi-Tawi.
Matolo expressed elation that even after two years of legal battle, the Comelec en banc, has decided in her favor based on facts and evidences her camp presented in pursuing the protest.
Sapa-Sapa is a 4th class municipality comprising of 23 villages and is one of the 11 municipalities of the province of Tawi-Tawi. According to the 2000 census, it has a population of 26,242 people in 4,322 households.
http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/242199/tawitawi-town-has-new-mayor
