The newly elected officials of the Municipality of Bugasong, Antique, led by Victor Condez (eighth from left), who won as mayor during their proclamation on May 13, 2025. Condez said in an interview Thursday (May 22) that he is hopeful that the Court of Appeals will favorably act on their petition and lift their suspension before June 30. (Photo courtesy of Bugasong Information Office)
SAN JOSE DE BUENAVISTA, Antique – The mayor-elect of the municipality of Bugasong in Antique is banking on the decision of the Court of Appeals to lift his suspension for him to assume office at noon on June 30.
Mayor-elect Victor Condez was one of the eight board members of the province, served with a one-year suspension by the Office of the Ombudsman due to grave abuse of authority and grave misconduct on March 7, 2025.
Condez, proclaimed the winner during the May 12 midterm polls, said they are waiting for the decision of the Court of Appeals on the petition they sent before the elections.
“We questioned the Ombudsman’s order for it was implemented during the election period, which is prohibited without the prior approval of the Comelec (Commission on Elections) based on the Omnibus Election Code,” he said.
Condez believed the suspension order no longer applied to him, having been elected into a new position.
In a separate interview, Department of the Interior and Local Government Antique Provincial Director John Ace Azarcon said, considering the validity of the Ombudsman’s order and without the new CA decision, the newly proclaimed mayor could take oath on June 30, but cannot execute assumption into office because of the one-year suspension order.
“The vice mayor will assume as acting mayor, and so the regular succession (among the municipal councilors) will follow,” Azarcon said.
Meanwhile, re-elected board Alfie Jay Niquia, Sangguniang Kabataan Federation president Kenneth Dave Gasalao, and Liga ng Mga Barangay president Julius Cezar Tajanlangit will continue serving their suspension.
Incumbent board members Egidio Elio, Rony Molina, Mayella Mae Ladislao, and Plaridel Sanchez IV, who lost in the recent elections, must pay subsidiary fines. (PNA)