We bumped into Cong. Edgar M. Chatto during the birthday bash of City Councilor Macky Olario at the Pob. III barangay hall yesterday noon.

During our talk with the first district solon in the presence of the birthday celebrant and other city SP members including Oscar Glovasa, Urbano Lagunay and Edgar Kapirig ( City Councilor Edi Borja left before we arrived), he explained that the current imbroglio plaguing the city Lakas-CMD directorate can be resolved with dispatch if there is an opportunity to sit down and talk.

We also updated him of the extrinsic circumstances behind the manifesto that we signed. For purposes emphasis, we are re-printing here our column last Wednesday wherein we explained the circumstances and the nature of our manifesto.

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The manifesto signed by eight out of ten incumbent city councilors supporting the leadership of Vice-Mayor Nuevas-Tirol Montes which was published in local newspapers last Sunday created quite a stir in the ranks of the ruling Lakas-CMD party in the city.

For one, the manifesto was published in toto, hence, under the rule on evidence, nothing can be deduced more from what was being reduced in writing.

Unfortunately, in the world of politics, the manifesto is subject to many interpretations depending upon which side of the bread of the reader is being buttered.

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As a signatory to the manifesto, the language of the manifesto, to our understanding, raised three important things.

One, that we admire and recognize the brand of leadership of the lady vice-mayor as our presiding officer in the 9th Sangguniang Panlungsod. This explains why even the non-Lakas city councilors also signed the manifesto.

Second, that we are supporting her re-election bid as city vice-mayor given her exemplary performance as our leader in the city council.

Third, that she is the highest elected official of the Lakas-CMD in the city level and pursuant to the time-honored party rule on the equity of the incumbent, she has our unequivocal, unconditional and unqualified support. These are facts and these are undisputed.

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There was nothing in the manifesto that mentioned about impeaching or even challenging the leadership of DOTC Asec. Joe Torralba as the Lakas-CMD chair in the city.

In fact, in our letter to Gov. Erico Aumentado signed by the city vice-mayor and the six Lakas city councilors minus the two non-Lakas SP members, we also did not mention about Torralba or even City Mayor Dan Lim.

We just leave the decision to the provincial party directorate whoever would they endorse as the official standard bearer of Lakas-CMD for the city.

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In other words, we support not only the re-election bid of the incumbent city vice-mayor but as well as our assertion of being the incumbent city councilors as the priority in the official slate of Lakas-CMD in Tagbilaran.

Being tasked by the other signatories to deliver manifesto and its accompanying letter to Gov. Aumentado to the various media outlets, we preferred not to write the news article about it considering that we would be a biased writer being one of the signatories thereof.

We just left to the task of writing the news item to the media outlets. Unfortunately again, the news writers took a controversial angle out of the manifesto, which, under rule on evidence, maybe considered “extrinsic” – meaning the circumstances behind and affected by the manifesto and the letter.

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As one of the signatories of the manifesto and the letter to Gov. Aumentado, we invoke Republic Act 1477 in not divulging the “extrtinsic” angle although we already made a public pronouncement over Station DYRD’s top-rated Inyong Alagad program yesterday (Tuesday) morning.

Lastly, if we only received the invitation to attend the Lakas meeting hastily called by the former city mayor last Monday afternoon, we would have been the first one to sign the manifesto expressing our recognition of Torralba’s leadership as the chair of Lakas-CMD in the city. (As of last Wednesday morning, we already signed the said Joe manifesto- DAB).

Vice-Mayor Montes, City Councilors Lucio Balbin, Macky Olario and yours truly did not receive the invitation. Only City Councilors Urbano Lagunay, Edi Borja and Oscar Glovasa received theirs.

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