After the Election

At the end of the campaign, there is an overwhelming sense of relief that is so real but the feeling of fear or victory during the last 2 days before election day is beyond words. I kept those emotions in check until the unofficial election returns started to come in from several precints after the first hour of closing the votes (7:00pm). Before 8:00 pm, even before returns from other precints started to come in we knew we lost the election. Moments of silence followed before JP could really face our people to make the announcement. I went up to my cottage all alone and fixed myself a drink. I did not shed any tears then until the next morning when our father came by to offer his comforting words of wisdom. "Politics is no longer for us and let us move on with our private lives. Accept defeat gracefully for it is God's will that we may serve others in many other ways." My father lost the same mayoral election a long time ago and never tried to come back for a second time. It was the wisest decision he ever made.


The hardest part of losing an election is picking up the pieces the morning after. You wake up and the whole place is empty, devoid of the usual influx of supporters ready to start the day of rigorous campaigning months before election day. Suddenly, there is that feeling of loneliness, abandonment, absence of hunger, pain and wonderment as to what went wrong. You ask a lot of questions...


I pity my brother and his family who had to endure the loss thereafter. I pity our father who celebrated his 94th birthday 5 days after the election. Victory would have been a nicer gift for him. I missed his birthday because I left Alfonso the 2nd day after the election to go back to the States. I left Alfonso with a bleeding heart. Just like that, our dreams and aspirations for our beloved town dissappeared in a flash.




I'm back in the States after 3 long months of campaign to heal my wounds. My brother Joy, the candidate and his wife will follow very soon. Time for healing, it might take some time. Time to thank God for giving us this chance.



We want to thank all our friends and supporters who really worked hard to help us in the campaign, those who braved the heat under the sun joining the campaign trail, and those friends and relatives who similarly worked hard but expected nothing in return and shared our goals and concern for Alfonso. I want to give my special thanks to all my Facebook friends who inspired me along the way throughout the election. A very special thanks to Mango Mandarin whom I've never met but guided me along this journey.

Facebook

Facebook is taking away my blog time. I never imagined I will be spending too many hours reading and messaging my friends, relatives, or even children. I promised to free myself from the internet, emails and cell phones after retiring and live as a minimalist. All I really wanted was a windy beach away from it all...windsurf till my arms "feel like jello"(windsurfer's lingo).
I lost what I should be blogging about FB. I shouldn't have mentioned windsurfing. It's almost 12:00 midnight so I'll continue tomorrow.

7:00 pm Tuesday, Got into FB sometime last year because of a friend's email with a link to FB to show a photo album but I needed an account to view them so the rest is history. I discovered that my daughter, daughter in law and my eldest son were all in FB. Wowee! Nice opportunity bonding with my kids. Being a nice dad of course, I clicked the "invite your friends" button. The next day I got my first "....are now friends" and a comment from my son - "the party is over guys. My dad is on FB". I knew he was kidding but still something was not quite right being on FB with my kids generation. After a while, everything seemed going well but "one liners" was something hard to get used to.

Fastforward 2010 - I now have more than 100 friends, mostly relatives, new found relatives and even little children not even old enough to read. Invitations from groups like "sinigang", causes like Haiti, mafia wars but my favorite is "Farmville" where members can grow plants on the internet and send gifts of all kinds. Then there's the 90% angel or 10% devil? and the daily horoscope, someone asking for bricks to build something. I wonder if they can use hollow blocks which is cheaper. I guess I'm missing a lot of fun out of FB. Tomorrow, I'll check my "lover of the day"and hope it's not a guy or a kid and then call Tara the psychic if I'll win the lottery and I'll be on my faraway windy beach under a thick Indian Mango tree (smiling).....on second thought, would I leave my FB friends?

In conclusion, I'm getting a lot of good things in FB especially the discussion board. "The page is powerful enough to stimulate good intentions and create deeper understanding of our community for worthwhile causes." (quote from a friend).

My Father - 2nd Edition

Two years ago, he gave me a shoebox of memorabilla they kept for decades, mostly pictures of everybody and a brown envelope with stuff for me. It was a collection of my school report cards from elementary to college, my boy scout pictures(10 yrs. old), neckerchiefs, pins, graduation invitations, letters, etc.. He told me that he kept the wooden scooter with bearing wheels I built when I was about 10 yrs. old but it disappeared somehow. I'll never forget how I rode it downhill in Tagaytay City sidewalks when my mother used to to take me with her while working there. My report cards even showed my absent days in college and my mediocre grades. I've always thought I was a bright student. I don't remember my father ever criticizing me for my poor performance in school...now I'm suspicious that he was also just like me that I did the same thing to my kids..like father like son.

It was a shock for me to see an old, almost torn letter I wrote to my grandmother(s) while in early college days asking for money pitifully. I cannot recall now if I ever got my wish or if my parents ever shown my grandmother my letter. The fact that my parents kept the letter and it was all creased, I presume they didn't. I still keep those letters.

My eldest son now 39 did also write a similar letter to Tatay while in high school asking for $400.00 to buy a Les Paul electric guitar. His letter was so neatly written (I framed it) in a way that no grandpa can say no. Tatay being a generous man sent him the money....Now it makes me wonder why my letter to my grandmother was crumpled and was in his possession.....hmmm.

When we were growing up, Tatay used to put up real elaborate nativity set up during Christmas time, some ideas copied from the old "Avenida Rizal" Christmas decorations. I even copied a couple of his scenes for my house in the States. There is one thing odd about our family tradition for Christmas. We never really practiced exchanging gifts with one another but being home before 12:00 midnight for the "noche buena" was a very strict rule. I quit believing Santa Claus at a young age when we put out our Christmas socks at a corner one night and waking up without anything in it in the morning. Tatay was all smiles telling us all kinds of reasons why Santa didn't come. Alfonso was too far and something else I don't remember. It was funny alright now to think about it but then was "traumatic"...Now I am like a traumatized Vietnam veteran waking up some mornings screaming "don't shoot me Santa!"

Tatay is really getting older each day but he is still good telling stories...over and over...and over but I always patiently listens. I'm getting old too and I think I now understand why they do that. Getting old sadly and slowly ends the capability of doing the same exciting things when you were younger and all you can do now is reminish and share them to whoever will listen. I'm ending this with tears in my eyes and that I will go on listening to him...over and over.

My father

I thought of writing this while my father is still alive and to have something to share with my family and friends. He will be 94 years old this May 15, 2010. My own children and their cousins, mostly adults now know not much about him. He was born in barangay Kaytitinga, Alfonso, Cavite and lives in the same house where we were all born (5 boys) in the town proper of Alfonso. Our mother Leny Dominguez passed away couple of years ago followed by our eldest brother less than a year later. Both of them died from diabetes complications. I can feel that the loss of my mother and eldest brother really took a toll on his well being. He now walks with a cane but still very well for his age.

It is very amazing that his memory is better than mine because he can still recall the street names and the stores he frequented while visiting us in 1983 (USA) and that was 27 years ago. He was only there for 3 weeks and got bored after seeing "America the Beautiful" in Disneyland. He said, "I've seen America and I'm going home". Once in a while, I even hear him quote from Shakespeare. I don't even know one.

All his working life was being a civil servant although he and my mother I vividly remember owning a bakery before he worked for the Central Bank in Manila and only came home during weekends. He became the Municipal Treasurer of Alfonso for a long time until he rose to become the Provincial Treasurer of Cavite in the early 80s until his retirement in 1982. I migrated to the USA before then (1973).

My father is a very honest man and very well respected in our town. Almost all his working life was managing money and could have been very tempting especially being the Provincial Treasurer. He had the opportunity to amass a fortune and got away with it He loves to tell us those missed opportunities and the people who took advantage of them and I believe him knowing how corrupt our leaders are. The one thing he is very proud of is never having fed us with stolen money. I remember when I was growing up seeing a huge quote poster on his office wall about "If at the end of the day you do not feel guilty putting in your day's worth..then." I don't remember the exact words but it was inspirational.

He is a very quiet and mild mannered man. I can't recall a time he raised his voice in anger although he was a disciplinarian He had his share of midlife crisis when he started losing his hair. A few years after I migrated with my family to the States, I received a registered big brown envelope from him and inside was some flattened newspaper with masking tapes all over it. It had with it a note if I could get him a toupee. It turned out that the crumpled newspaper was what he molded over his head and taped over to keep the shape of his head. Me and my wife laughed all the way home imagining how and where we can find someone to make it and keep a straight face. I wrote back my father to send me his head...just kidding. Seriously, I told him that it will be difficult to do what he wanted.

My father was an impeccable dresser during his working years from head to toe. His work clothes were made to order barongs, gabardine pants, expensive shoes or always neatly pressed white long sleeved shirts always with cuff links. I saw his old shark skin suits and even owned tuxedos. My mother adored him and took care of him dearly.

If you look closely at his picture above, he had his facial age spots removed by that famous Vicky Belo.I was jealous , I had one too but a different doctor for half the price.

I got more to say but I'm getting sleepy...

Old Tradition

My sister in law's brother Eddie died from diabetes complications almost 2 weeks ago. He was also a childhood friend of mine and the funeral wake was held at the compound where I stay here in Alfonso which lasted for 5 days. I suddenly realized how little I knew about old traditions here in Alfonso having been away for more than 30 years living in the USA and experiencing a funeral wake within the family. I've seen wakes before but never really witnessed the entire practice - not even for my own mother and elder brother who died couple of years ago.

I was amazed at the amount of praying held by the "manangs"(some kind of a religious group of elderly women)who come to the place where the wake is held and pray loudly for about an hour every morning at 6:30 am. I'm not sure if they are reciting the rosary because I never really paid attention and watched from afar. After the prayer, they are served a nice breakfast and I'm not sure if they go to the next wake for lunch and so on. I don't remember who I was with one morning that she told me that this particular group of manangs are divided into 2 factions because of some personal conflict. It was quite funny that each group ate at separate tables and were not talking to each other although they pray together as one group. I assume that the prayers are for asking the forgiveness of the dead person's sins that he may go to heaven. May he rest in peace.

The fourth day is something more important because the prayers lasted longer and the prepared food was for lunch and much better. The funeral was held on the 5th day. The night before the funeral is called the "big night" where more people came all day and thru the night which was like an all day all night party. People playing mahjong and card games for money. Nobody seemed to be grieving for the dead..or should I say celebrant? And more prayers till the 9th day which is called "pasiyam". This day is also a big day with lots of food from morning till evening. Prayers by the manangs lasted all day and nobody seems to know what was the origin of this old tradition and the symbolism it stands for. 40 days is getting near and another commemoration for Eddie's death is coming. I don't need to write more on this.

Old traditions in Alfonso never die. Most of them I try to comprehend with respect but a lot of them just don't make sense. Some of them I believe are the causes of why the Philippines is still a third world country. One of them is the "compadre" system where people ignore and bypass the normal order of systems where equality and fairness for all should be the way of life. People vote not because the candidate possesses the right credentials but rather because he is my "compadre". Some best friends I know support a corrupt politician because he is their "compadre" who allows them to not pay their fair share of taxes. So sad for my country.

Philippine Politics

Feb. 21, 2010

4:30 am - I had a good sleep last night and getting adjusted to my new time zone. Since my arrival, I’ve been holed up in the compound and haven’t set foot outside. My father who will be 94 this coming May has been keeping me company every day and he too seems to be enjoying the flow of people in and out of this place. Boredom doesn’t seem to exist here (for older people at least) even in the absence of Starbucks, malls, theaters and all those hangout places people normally go – at least for the time being.

What bothers me the most is my indignation about the Philippine justice system and what happened to my brother’s protest case. I do not understand why the Supreme Court Justice can be so incredibly swift in reversing the Lower Court and the Commission on Election judgments that seated my brother back to office. The case took more that 2 years to deliberate but the SC reversal of the judgment only took them less than a month. How can a SC hand down a “status quo” ruling that was so vague that they had to issue a second ruling (7 – 8 vote) favoring the other party. It is common knowledge how corrupt the Philippine politics is but this one I believe is the pits. I also heard there was a PHP8 million dirty money injected to swing the SC order to their favor. They know who they are. I won’t be surprised if the Ampatuan massacre in Maguindanao goes to the dogs the way it is going.

I also have a gripe about our senators whom I sent email letters about Gov. Maliksi’s military takeover several weeks ago. Not even one acknowledged at least receiving them for courtesy purposes. I guess it is election time that they are too busy preparing for their political survival.

Alfonso Election 2010

It's Saturday afternoon and I am in Alfonso for 3 days now adjusting my bio clock(16 hrs ahead). I finally set up my internet access the reason why I can write this blog and hopefully write something interesting in the next 3 months.

I'm here to help out in my brother's mayoral campaign which I've done for the 3rd time since 2001. It is a hectic and stressful experience and for sure, this one will be most difficult but there's no turning back now. The campaign here in Alfonso is getting dirtier and I've already seen black propaganda from our opponent even though the official start date of the campaign has not yet started. I have to admit they are really good at it.

I just learned yesterday that our province of Cavite now has 7 congressional districts from 3 districts since 2007 election; meaning we will now have 4 more new congressmen having millions in pork barrel each. I think the Philippines is really going to the dogs considering how our politicans squander taxpayers money.

Since this morning, I have seen 4 people came in to my brothers compound asking for favors such as help getting someone out of the hospital, a father with her little sick daughter needing medical help, a young mother asking for recommendation to find a job, someone who asked for transportation fare. These go on everyday with people coming in and out of the compound.

The highlight of my day is a woman asking for advice when her husband was hit by a car and died. She settled for PHP50,000.00 because the driver of the car was poor and can only afford that much. Life here is so cheap actually it was about PHP4000.00 some years ago. I was told that it is cheaper if the victim died instead of being disabled.

In Retrospect 'cont'd..

As I mentioned in the previous blog, the above is the 2nd page of the ACF brochure laying out the list of priorities of our vision for the town. Looking back, my brother's admininistration did a very impressive record of accomplishments. Regretfully, these are not enough for the people of Alfonso and perhaps true for most part of the country. I have always believed that there is hope for the Philippines and making a difference no matter how small matters. I'm getting older and I now believe I will not see this happen for the country during my remaining years. I can only hope that we can make this happen for Alfonso and sow the seeds for our youth for them to achieve a better future. My own children are not better off today than my generation even though they all have college education. It makes me sad to think about those who are less fortunate that their opportunities for a better future are being limited by some corrupt leaders who only think for themselves.

The May 2010 election is coming and we will give our vision for Alfonso another breath of hope.

Till my next blog....

In Restrospect 'cont'd..

This is the original ACF brochure (front page) I developed stating our vision for Alfonso.

These pictures I took in 2004 were 3 major post war bridges in Alfonso.

If seeing is believing, one only has to cross these bridges today. The Pajo bridge was unpassable for more than one year. All these bridges were built under Mayor Joy Penano's 3 year term.

In addition, the infrastructure projects such as Kaytitinga/Amuyong road concreting, Luksuhin Market Renovation, and almost everything on the list were completed and the rest could have been on the way to realization.

We are not perfect people but we challenge anyone to bring out any charges of corruption against us. Our father was a civil servant who resisted every opportunity and temptation to enrich himself during his term as Provincial Treasurer of Cavite instilled in us to, "Never feed your family with stolen money". It always amazed us to listen to his stories about those so called "missed"opportunities and the people who took advantage of them.

The 2nd page of the brochure is shown on the next blog. I beg to apologize for the way this blog is structured but I'm having difficulty arranging them the way it should be because the draft comes out differently than the final layout when I hit the publish button. I promise to get better when I get familiar with this "blogger" site.

In Retrospect

February 6, 2010

I'm writing this with a heavy heart. It's 5:00 am, I am losing sleep and my stomach churning over what's going on in Alfonso. My head is swirling with thoughts that I'm having difficulty putting them into words. One of the hardest thing in writing for me is to sit down and start doing it

I'm also having a lot of thoughts about the Charitable Foundation I created in the sense that it was put "on hold" due to personal setbacks my family had to attend to for the past several years which will be another story (click here). It took a tremendous toll on our emotional and financial well being and disrupted my family temporarily.

Unfortunately, the Foundation also lost its website which took me months to develop on my own to save expenses. I spent hundreds of hours learning to create a website since I am not a computer expert. After the AT&T/SBC Global merger and unmerger, the foundation domain name got lost in the transition and ended up being sold to some domain peddler in Australia. I tried to recover the domain but they now want to charge me again for something we already paid for. In principle, I figured it will be easier to start all over.

The Foundation "on hold" quit soliciting personal donations last May 2007 and was left with about $2300.00 in its account. I decided to re-direct fundraising not from individual donors from Alfonso but instead focus on other charitable groups and other generous friends and individuals who are truly supportive and believe in my integrity without question. It is a "lesson learned" in this experience that I decided to take a different path in continuing my mission.

I went thru my files this morning and and found some stuff which in the absence of the original website, provided some background information where I started. See the next blog.

January 23, 2010

The Alfonso Charitable Foundation (ACF) started in 2005 a year after Mayor Joy's 1st term of office.

FLASHBACK - May 10, 2004

Joy Peñano(my younger brother) defeated then incumbent mayor Ver Varias during the May 2004 election by a narrow margin of around 1500 votes. The town of Alfonso was in bad shape financially with P4 million deficit and in a state of social decay. Corruption and social ills such as illicit drugs (shabu specifically) and gambling rampant. The town was turned over to the new mayor with government equipment such as vehicles and heavy equipments sabotaged or in disrepair. Gone were batteries, tires and parts were switched with old ones. The municipal building was in a shameful,dilapidated condition with ceilings falling off and bathrooms unusable without running water. Ver Varias and his cohorts had a long list of documented wrongdoings such as overpricing municipal projects, falsifying documents regarding bidders and so on.

Joy Peñano is a successful businessman who grew up in Alfonso, Cavite and could have avoided the rigors of politics. His only desire was to make his hometown a better place for his family and constituents and cannot have any more motives to enrich himself since he didn’t have to.

In just 3 years in office as Alfonso Mayor, his accomplishments were unprecedented in the town’s history. Below are some of his major accomplishments.

 Eliminated corruption and restored order in the municipal government using his experience in running a business. He restored the municipal building to become a decent, clean and presentable condition with clean bathrooms where people didn’t have to go somewhere else; basic necessities that Ver Varias neglected to provide during his term.
 Alfonso became a NO “SOP”(Standard Operating Procedure)local government that symbolized honesty and dedicated service to the people. SOP is the common knowledge slang for bribery such as 20% or more overpricing for contractors and suppliers. This overprice goes to the pockets of the corrupt leaders in the government.
Example: Mayor Joy’s first encounter with SOP when he took over was receiving an envelope of cash from the supplier of medical supplies for the Health Clinics. He asked, “What is this for?”. The salesman replied, “Sir, this is for the SOP as usual”. Mayor Joy politely returned the envelope to the salesman and told him to put the true pricing from then on. This led to the discovery of numerous documented corruption practices of VerVarias’ previous administration.
 Mayor Peñano risked his life and family waging war against drug traffic in
his town and succeeded with a lot of support from concerned citizens. Drug trade from the lowlands was practically non existent before the end of his term.
 He accomplished a formidable record of replacing 3 major post war artery bridges with new ones and the concreting of the Amuyong dirt road which is a part of the National Budget. This stretch of main road is even a political territory of Mr. Varias. No other Mayor, Governor nor even a Philippine President succeeded in making these projects a reality in the history of Alfonso.
 He brought street lighting to every dark street where needed in every barangay and sometimes spending his own money to make it happen without political party leanings.
 Through efficient and honest governance, he elevated the stagnation of Alfonso from a third class to first class municipality.
 The list goes on... to be listed here in the future.

To be continued..

January 21, 2010

I've been figuring out how am i gonna start this blog. My mind has been focused on Alfonso, Cavite - my hometown in the Philippines where I want to retire but it has been on hold due to personal matters here in USA. There is no question about retiring in Alfonso after more than 30 years raising my family in the USA. It is a matter of spending my golden years where I grew up - my old country and my own people. There are no regrets about my spending 36 years in a foreign country which enabled me and my family to live a very exciting and rewarding life. I am very fortunate to now have an option to live a new challenge unmindful of whatever happens in the future.

I have been preparing for this since 2004 when my younger brother was elected as the Mayor of Alfonso. We share the same ideals and goals to make a difference in the lives of the people of our hometown. I took the opportunity to create the USA based Alfonso Charitable Foundation which took more than a year to realize. It's main recipient was our hometown - the motto; "One town at a time". For the next 2 years, with the support of my college friends and many "kababayans", and my personal money, we succeeded in raising funds and delivered donations such as medicines, books, computers, shoes, refrigirators for barangay clinics, seed money and tools for some start-up cooperatives. My personal time and transportation expenses going back and forth from the States and Alfonso came from my own pocket. My wife thought I was crazy at first but after she saw the fruit of our labor, she even donated a lot of her own real estate commissions.

The Foundation is not without controversy. It created a lot of criticisms from some detractors and accused me of politicizing the organization because my brother is the mayor. My brother's political opponent even tried to use the Foundation in his campaign that the organization is a fake and just a family foundation. I figured somebody checked the SEC and did not find it's existence. They were right because I went to the SEC to register it in the Philippines. All I got was runaround and the typical government bureaucracy that I left very exasperated without any registration. The Foundation did not really need any since it is fully registered in the US as a 501(c)(3) foundation and Alfonso is just a recipient without intention to raise funds from the Philippines. Alfonso never asked for a registration every time we delivered donations.

To be continued...

Military Coup

January 22, 2010

It has been 11 days since the "Military Coup" staged by Gov. Maliksi ousting the duly elected Mayor Joy Penano from office and installing his henchman Ver Varias. It was a historical and dark event for the small town of Alfonso, Cavite, Philippines. Since then, I have been trying to expose this political violence to wherever I can especially to the constituents of Cavite and the political leaders of the country. The abuses of power by the corrupt leaders must be stopped. I'm not sure where my efforts would lead to but this is something I just can't ignore.

For those not familiar with what really happened in Alfonso, Cavite, please read on background information below.

ALFONSO MAYORAL ELECTION DISPUTE TIMELINE:

May 10, 2007
Incumbent Mayor Joy Penano was defeated by Ver Varias by a 241 vote margin in the election.

May 25, 2007
Joy Penano officially filed his protest of election fraud.

December 17, 2007 7 months later
The lower court declared Joy Penano as the righful winner with a plurality of 142 votes.

December 17, 2008 One year later
Exactly 1 year after, COMELEC First Division affirmed the decision of the court declaring Joy Penano was the winner.

August 17, 2009 8 months later
COMELEC En Banc affirmed the decision of COMELEC First Division declaring Joy Penano as the winner.

September 23, 2009 1 month later
Joy Penano assumed the Mayoral Office after COMELEC released a "Writ of Execution" directing Ver Varias to relinquish and vacate the Office of the Mayor.
It took almost two and a half years of legal conflict to arrive here.

December 17, 2009 3 months later
Mayor Peñano received what purports to be a “status quo” order from the Supreme Court directing the Commission on Elections “to maintain the status quo in the mayoralty position in Alfonso, Cavite” and enjoining it from enforcing the COMELEC resolutions assailed in the petition.

The petition referred to is the petition filed by petitioner Varias elevating on Certiorari to the Supreme Court the resolutions of the COMELEC First Division and En Banc upholding the Cavite Regional Trial Court’s protest case decision finding Peñano the duly elected Mayor of Alfonso.

As of December 16, 2009, the date of the status quo order, the prevailing status quo in Alfonso, Cavite is: Peñano is the Mayor, having assumed said position on September 23, 2009 or three months earlier via a writ of execution issued by the COMELEC, with Varias peacefully vacating the same.

December 18, 2009
In need of clarification of the import of the status quo order and entertaining some doubts as to the order’s authenticity, Peñano filed “An Urgent Manifestation with Motion to Clarify and/or Vacate Status Quo Order”.

Varias is solely to blame for the confusion as he did not disclose that at the time he filed his Manifestation he was no longer Mayor of Alfonso, Cavite. Moreover, he likewise did not disclose that at the time, there was nothing more to be restrained or enjoined, as the COMELEC had already implemented its final and Executory Judgment Finding Peñano the duly elected Mayor.

December 20, 2009
Gov, Ayong Maliksi, together with Varias and “supporters” that are not residents of Alfonso, Cavite, went to the Alfonso Municipal hall and attempted to oust Mayor Joy Peñano claiming he had a copy of a Supreme Court Status Quo Order. Gov. Maliksi insisted that the SC resolution invoking the status quo is sufficient enough, and that the party who is authorized to implement such are Varias and Peñano. Furthermore, they insisted that the COMELEC no longer has jurisdiction over the subject matter. Gov. Maliksi even suggested a foolish scenario wherein Varias will be allowed to work within the Municipal Hall while Peñano continues his duty in the Mayors Office. The Governor failed to unseat Joy Peñano who insisted that the Governor had no legal basis to back his attempt.

January 11, 2010 Dark moment in Alfonso, Cavite
Governor Maliksi together with an army of military police stormed the municipal hall and forcefully ejected the incumbent Mayor Joy Peñano who finally stepped down after seeing his people getting hurt. Click here for video 1, here for video 2. He was in office for less than 4 mos.

Same day, Jan. 11, COMELEC released as order stating that Peñano is the INCUMBENT Mayor following their past Decision and Resolutions and advised both parties to seek clarification from the Honorable Supreme Court.
Mayor Joy Penano received this order on January 12, a day too late. Gov. Maliksi took this opportunity to accomplish his goal with complete disregard for the rule of law and order using his power to twist the military police in his favor


To be continued.....