Two weeks after the election of the League of Municipalities (LMP) - Bohol Chapter, we still have to know who won for the position of president. And the issue is hot as ever. Mayor Roygie Jumamoy of Inabanga and Mayor In-in Boniel of Bien Unido got each 22 votes after the balloting in one of the function halls of Bohol Tropics Resort in Tagbilaran. Normally a tie vote is decided by a toss coin. Even our electoral processes for elective positions in government allow this. In the case of Leagues of Municipalities and other groupings or associations of elective officials, a term sharing can be reached upon by the two parties. None of such arrangement was agreed. The latest that I know of is that the problem was referred to the National Directorate of the LMP for resolution. This was resorted to after the plea of Mayor Lloyd Lopez of Loon to allow Vice Mayor Calamba of Bilar to vote in order to break the tie was not settled either. Vice Mayor Calamba was representing Mayor Palacio who was out of the country at the time of the election. This was an issue that I was told was already decided against before the voting took place because the Vice Mayor is not a member of the LMP. To allow him to vote would be to allow him to be voted upon raising the issue of a possible president who is not a municipal mayor.

To an ordinary person who is a member of several groups, issues like this need not even be elevated to the national directorate as it can find solution in the Constitution and By-Laws of the organization. What does the By-Laws of the LMP say about membership? About election of officers? Who can vote and who can be voted upon? I accessed the Constitution and By-Laws of the LMP from the internet but could not for the LMP Bohol Chapter which made me think that perhaps it has none. On the issue of allowing Vice Mayor Calamba to break the tie, Section 2, Article III (Membership) of the LMP By-Laws says, “Every municipality shall be represented in the League by the Municipal Mayor or in his absence, by the Vice-Mayor or a Sangguniang Bayan member duly elected for the purpose by the members thereof, who shall, attend in all the meetings and participate in the deliberations of the League. However, the representative of the municipality other than the Mayor will not be allowed to vote in the elections for the National Executive Officers of the League (underscoring mine).”

Again this is the LMP as a national organization. Whether the same will apply to the local chapter, I am not sure in the absence of the local by-laws. Again Section 2, Article IV (Annual Membership Dues and Other Fees) of the LMP By-Laws says, “Any member that neglects or fails to pay its annual membership dues and other fees within the end of this year (December 31, 2006) and every year thereafter shall be excluded from the benefits available to paying members or members in good standing, such as but not limited to the following, to wit:

a…

b…

c. Vote and be voted upon during elections for the National Officers of the League.”

The section speaks of the national officers because it is a national organization. In the absence of the local by-laws, the same may be applied on the local level. While it is correct that the issue could be referred to the National Directorate for solution, its decision will still be based on what the By-Laws say on the issue, in this case election of officers. Section 2, Article VII of the same By-Laws says, “The National Directorate shall conduct its activities in accordance with the By-laws of the League and the decisions of the General Assembly.” By referring the issue to the National Directorate, LMP Bohol just prolonged the agony and perhaps animosities created by the partisan activity. And it is not good for the Bohol Chapter of the LMP. A term sharing would have been a win-win solution.

Meanwhile, pending solution to the issue, Mayor Efren Tungol of Albur, the Execcutive Vice-President and Interim President of the LMP Bohol Chapter will continue to sit as member of the Provincial Development Council.

Let’s hope the issue will be solved soon.

NOTES. Despite the announcement of President P-Noy to scrap the PDAF in view of the rising clamor of the public to abolish it, the anti-PDAF march and assembly at the Quirono Grandstand in Manila tomorrow will still push through. There will be similar activities in Cebu and Davao. In Bohol those who agree with the cause can participate by wearing white t-shirts, so I was told.