Priest Leads Campaign vs. ‘Corrupt’ Mayor

As national election nears, a Catholic priest in Tambulig town, Zamboanga del Sur province, hanged a black cloth above the entrance door of his church to remind the people of Tambulig of  “sorrowful” days ahead should the re-electionist town mayor gets a fresh mandate from the people come May 10 polls. 

By Mars S. Marata
Bulatlat.com Mindanao Bureau

PAGADIAN CITY -- As national election nears, a Catholic priest in Tambulig town, Zamboanga del Sur province, hanged a black cloth above the entrance door of his church to remind the people of Tambulig of  “sorrowful” days ahead should the re-electionist town mayor gets a fresh mandate from the people come May 10 polls.

Diocesan priest Dexter Zamoras, 39, of San Isidro Parish here told Bulatlat.com that “this is my way of reminding the faithful of my parish of the imminent disaster that awaits the town should the mayor gets elected again.”

Zamoras referred to the re-election bid of town Mayor Eduardo Balaod of Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) who has been charged of corruption and abuse of power -- charges lodged by a citizen’s group called Oust Balaod Movement (OBM) of which Zamoras is a member.

Balaod said the priest’s action was “too much,” adding he is seeking a disciplinary measure from the local church’s hierarchy. To this Zamoras retorted: “I know a Christian should make a concrete stance on people’s welfare. If my superior decides against my move, I am ready to face it.”

“I have not yet met with my bishop but I’m sure, with my noble intentions, he will support me,” Zamoras added.

In a phone interview, Pagadian Diocesan administrator Msgr. Edwin Dela Pena said he had not yet known of Zamoras’s action. “I have not yet known that there is such a black cloth hanging and I can’t yet make a comment on that.”

Dela Pena said he attends to two dioceses of Pagadian and Marawi and it’s hard for him to look into the day-to-day developments of his areas of assignment.

Citizen’s movement

Organized in December 2001, OBM is mainly composed of more than a hundred local government employees, farmers and small businessmen who have openly called for the ouster of Balaod.

The OBM felt aggrieved by Balaod’s alleged P7-million unliquidated cash advances, non-remittance of P4 million of the town’s share of government insurance (Government Social Insurance System) and the alleged “oppressive and illegal” treatment of employees known to be critical of his administration.

Since 2001 to June 2003, the OBM had launched at least three demonstrations in the town, calling publicly for Balaod’s ouster. It has also filed several complaints with the Ombudsman, charging Balaod of corruption and abuse of power. These cases are still awaiting resolution.

Balaod noted that the accusations “are all politically motivated,” referring to the election challenge posed against him by his vice-mayor, now mayoral opponent George Aleman (Lakas-Christian-Muslim Democrats, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's party), and that “mass actions can never compel me to step down; only the courts can.”

Arguing his innocence, Balaod filed libel charges against 10 OBM leaders in May last year, sending to jail OBM members and leaders for weeks. Although Zamoras was not named in the libel complaint, he volunteered to go to jail to dramatize his protest. The complaint was dismissed by the local court in October.

Warning

Last March 20, the regional command of the New People’s Army (NPA), the armed of the Communist Party of the Philippines in Western Mindanao, sent a “warning letter” to Balaod stating the corruption and abuse of power complaints of the people of Tambulig while urging Balaod to heed such complaints.

In his hand-written reply to the NPA March 31, Balaod denied all the allegations, saying the cases have been dismissed by the anti-graft court. He also repeated earlier accusation that the complaints were “politically motivated,” citing Aleman’s election challenge.

Last April 19, the NPA disarmed the group of Balaod after a campaign sortie in barangay Upper Liason. Two high-powered firearms and three short arms were seized from Balaod’s two police escorts and two private guards. The disarming was reportedly part of the guerillas’ existing policy prohibiting politicians from doing election-related activities with their armed goons within the NPA’s areas of influence. 

Pressed by the issue of church involvement in local politics, Msgr. Zacharias “Ite” Jimenez, then Pagadian diocese bishop and now assigned to Butuan, issued earlier statements lauding the parishioners’ and his priest’s  “Christian response to the people’s rights to clean and honest governance.” Bulatlat.com

Back to top

We want to know what you think of this article.