Diamante: I’m LP no more
Tuburan Mayor Democrito “Aljun” Diamante Jr. has clarified that he is no longer a member of the Liberal Party but of the administration’s Partido Demokratikong Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban).
Diamante was reacting to report that LP is working for him to get a writ of injunction after having secured a temporary restraining order to prevent the assumption of his political rival, Daphne Lagon, who was declared by the Regional Trial Court as the duly elected town mayor.
Diamante was among the first LP members in Cebu to join PDP-Laban and supported President Rodrigo Duterte’s war against illegal drugs.
One year into Duterte’s administration, Diamante, president of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP)Cebu Chapter, took his oath as member of the ruling party last August 1 in Lubao, Pampanga with the other league officials.
Diamante, also the league’s vice president for the Visayas Cluster, was joined by LMP national president, Mayor Fe Brondial of Oriental Mindoro; LMPSouthern Leyte president Oliver Ranque, LMPNorthern Samar president Don Abalon, and some mayors and congressmen before Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, PDP-Laban president, and House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez.
Last November 17, Diamante was tapped by the Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas to invite other elected officials particularly LP mayors in Cebu to join the mass oath taking of PDPLaban held at the Plaza Independencia.
Diamante and Lagon, who is recognized as PDP-Laban municipal head, were both present at the event with their respective leaders and supporters.
The Regional Trial Court in Toledo City on October 10 declared Lagon as the duly elected municipal mayor of Tuburan during the May 9, 2016 elections on the basis of a recount of selected ballots from 11 precincts that covered four barangays.
The court on October 25 granted the motion for execution pending appeal filed by Lagon and Diamante was given 20 working days to secure TRO.
The 20 working days period is supposed to end on November 24 but because of holidays, it was moved to November 29 while the next day is a holiday.
The Commission on Elections Second Division on November 17 granted 60 days TRO to Diamante preventing RTC Branch 59 in Toledo City from issuing a writ of execution for Lagon’s assumption.