By: Emme Rose Santiagudo
LADY lawyer Frances Parcon, the daughter of the late Iloilo City Councilor Armand Parcon, on Tuesday took her oath as the newest member of the NUP (National Unity Party) before Mayor Jerry Treñas.
The oath-taking happened as Frances is poised to take over her father’s seat in the SangguniangPanlungsod.
Armand Parcon, 59, passed away evening of May 23, 2019 due to pneumonia at the West Visayas Medical Center.
He was serving as city councilor and even won his reelection in the May 13, 2019 elections under NUP when he passed away.
The late councilor landed the second spot of the 12-seat council and was officially proclaimed on May 14.
As provided by Sec. 45 of the Local Government Code of the Philippines, permanent vacancies in the sanggunian shall be filled by appointment in the following manner:
-The President, through the Executive Secretary, in the case of the SangguniangPanlalawigan and the SangguniangPanlungsod of highly urbanized cities and independent component cities;
-The governor, in the case of the SangguniangPanlungsod of component cities and the Sangguniang Bayan;
-The city or municipal Mayor, in the case of Sangguniang barangay, upon recommendation of the Sangguniang barangay concerned.
Under the Local Government Code, “except for the sangguniang barangay, only the nominee of the political party under which the sanggunian member concerned had been elected and whose elevation to the position next higher in rank created the last vacancy in the sanggunian shall be appointed.”
Moreover, the appointee shall come from the same political party of the sanggunian member who caused the vacancy and shall serve the unexpired term of the vacant office.
In this case, both Treñas and Armand Parcon ran under the NUP banner.
But lawyer Dan Cartagena, the 13th placer in the city council race, questioned moves to tap Ms. Parcon as her father’s replacement.
On June 25, 2019, Cartagena filed a Petition for Mandamus, Injunction with Application for Issuance of a Writ of Preliminary Injuction and Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) before the Supreme Court in Manila.
The petition asked the SC to proclaim Cartagena as the 12th winning councilor and take Parcon’s vacant seat in the council.
Specifically, the petition asked the SC to compel the Commission on Elections to reconvene the Board of Canvassers for the City of Iloilo and proclaim him as the 12th winning candidate.
He also sought to enjoin and restrain the DILG from facilitating and processing the appointment of Parcon’s vacancy through Sec. 45 of the Local Government Code.
Cartagena anchored his petition on Republic Act (RA) 6636 which mandates that the SangguniangPanlungsod (SP) of Iloilo City should be composed of 12 councilors.
He also questioned Section 45 of the Local Government Code emphasizing that Parcon has not taken his oath and failed to assume office hence, Section 45 can only be applied to the unexpired term of his vacancy which is only until June 30, 2019.
“We have a law, RA 6636 which states that the SP of Iloilo City shall have 12 member councilors. Since napataysi CouncilorParcon, 11 na lang. You have to comply with the law nga kinahanglan 12, so ang ibutang mo nga ika-12 the most practical is me, Dan Cartagena who is number 13 because that is the most practical, convenient, portable, inexpensive and it is reflective of the will of the electorate,” Cartagena said in previous interviews.
