THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) yesterday ordered Albay Gov. Noel Rosal to immediately vacate his post and peacefully turn it over to Vice Governor Edcel “Grex” Lagman.
In a press conference, Comelec spokesman John Rex Laudiangco said the poll body has already sent the writ of execution to the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) for the implementation of the order.
“The Comelec is declaring and is ordering Governor Rosal to vacate the post and the office in Albay. This will be implemented by the DILG,” said Laudiangco.
“This is immediately executory because we are talking about a government post here. There cannot be any vacuum and uncertainty, that’s why we laid down the necessary adjustments,” he added.
Laudiangco said the order was also served on Tuesday morning to all the parties to the case, including Rosal and petitioner Joseph San Juan Armogila.
“They should even consider voluntarily vacating the post as the order is clear and is based on provisions of the law,” said the poll official.
He said the writ of execution was issued by the Comelec as there was no order from the Supreme Court (SC) preventing the poll body from implementing the decision.
“Within 5 days after serving the en banc reso, the Comelec did not receive any TRO (temporary restraining order) or any preliminary injunction coming from the SC. Because of this, our decision became final and executory, and will now be up for implementation,” Laudiangco explained.
To recall, the Comelec First Division, on September 19, ruled in favor of the petition of Armogila accusing Rosal of violating the 45-day spending ban under the Omnibus Election Code (OEC) during the May 2022 polls.
Armogila alleged that Rosal’s act of giving cash assistance to tricycles and senior citizens in Legazpi City was without prior authority from the Comelec as required by law.
On November 18, the Comelec en banc denied the appeal of Rosal after finding “no cogent reason to reverse” the decision of the First Division.
