ROXAS City – The vice mayor and a Sangguniang Bayan member in Maayon, Capiz were at odds over the process in realigning a P90,000 budget.
The conflict between Vice Mayor Weldie Apolinario and SB member Elmer Dordas turned physical after a heated argument on Dec. 19 when they were supposed to hold their session.
Apolinario splashed coffee on Dordas, while the latter threw a coffee mug at the former, causing him a cut on the left arm.
The vice mayor accused Dordas of confronting and provoking him by pointing a finger at him. This writer tried to reach Dordas for comment but repeated calls to his cellphone number had not been answered.
Dordas was supposedly clueless about the planned re-alignment of P90,000 to the vice mayor’s public relations fund from being an allocation for the Vice Mayors League of the Philippines.
“I called the other municipal councilors to ask them to suspend the rules so we could make the re-alignment happen by Wednesday, when we could be holding our last session for the year,” Apolinario told this writer.
“Honestly, I did not call him (Dordas) because I was having difficulty explaining the matter to him,” admitted the vice mayor.
Dordas was supposedly trying to convince Apolinario that the re-alignment must undergo the regular procedure instead of getting deliberated on in just one session.
“He (Dordas) has a point, but December is almost over and we’re pressed for time, so I asked that we insert the agenda in our last session,” the vice mayor said.
“Following the regular process would take time and there would be a slim chance that we would be able to approve the realignment before the year ends,” Apolinario added.
Their physical confrontation prompted Dordas to go home. Without constituting a quorum – with only five municipal councilors left – the SB did not push through with the session.
Apolinario is running for Provincial Board member in the 1st District of Capiz./PN
