Guia Gomez to defy recall notice

San Juan City Mayor Guia Gomez on Thursday said she will not accept the election recall notice from the Commission on Elections (Comelec), and has directed her lawyers to challenge it in court.

Former Vice Mayor Francisco Zamora had accused Gomez of delaying the process for election recall by not accepting the notice of sufficiency.

"I will not accept this recall and will allow my lawyers to challenge it legally," Guia said in a press conference at her house.

"I find the recall election notice unfair...[The Comelec] doesn't know much of San Juan," she added.

The mayor said she opted not to speak about the issue during the Christmas season. "For God's sake! It is Christmas last month. I wanted to respect the birth of the messiah that is why I did not speak," she said.

In a separate press conference Thursday, Zamora advised Gomez to just go to Comelec San Juan and accept the notice so the signatures of around 30, 000 people can be validated.

"If she is really confident that she won, why doesn’t she go to the Comelec San Juan and accept it personally," he said.

Her defiance, according to Zamora, is an insult to Comelec's credibility.

"The Comelec En Banc voted 4-0, in favor of the election recall. They found it 'sufficient in form and substance'," Zamora, the newly elected secretary general of PDP-LABAN, said.

"She's somewhat belittling the Comelec's decision."

Gomez, the former partner of Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada, ran against Zamora in the 2016 mayoral elections. She was declared winner after garnering 28, 828 votes, to Zamora’s 27, 604 votes.