Pryde Henry Teves maintains he is still the governor of Negros Oriental, while Roel Ragay Degamo took his oath as governor of the province before President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. at Malacañang.
Teves, whose proclamation as governor of Negros Oriental was annulled by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) en banc and the Special Board of Canvassers, in an interview, stressed “There is no order yet that I am uninstalled or unseated.”
The camp of Teves has filed a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) before the Supreme Court, contesting the nullification of his proclamation.
Degamo, who was proclaimed by the Special Board of Canvassers (SBoC) as the duly elected governor of Negros Oriental, yesterday took his oath before President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. at Malacañang.
Degamo, in his Facebook account, thanked the 331,726 voters, who voted for him, regardless of the spelling of his first name whether “be it Ruel or Roel.”
I am the legitimate Governor Roel Ragay Degamo, who garnered the most number of votes during the recently concluded National and Local elections.
The nullification of Teves’ proclamation came after the Comelec en banc declared Grego Degamo, whose real name is Grego Gaudia and used the name Ruel Degamo in the ballot, as a nuisance candidate. Votes for him were credited by the Comelec to Roel Ragay Degamo.
“Salamat sa Hustisya nga atong na angkon… ato ni tanan (Thank you for the justice, which we have attained). All glory and honor belongs to God Almighty,” Degamo further said.
On the other hand, Teves said he was told by the Department of the Interior and Local Government that they did not have an order to remove him from office, as they were even “confused on how to interpret” the copy of the Comelec en banc’s writ of execution furnished them.
The SC is expected to come up with a decision as early as October 11 as it has been calendared already, which Teves said he will respect, regardless of the ruling.
(Gilbert Bayoran via The Visayan Daily Star (TVDS), with Philippine News Agency (PNA), photo courtesy of TVDS)
