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Palawan gov faces petition for recall election


Opponents of Palawan Governor Abraham Mitra have filed a recall election petition against him on alleged grounds of “loss of trust and confidence." A recall election is a procedure provided under the Local Government Code to remove certain elected officials, such as governors. Mitra’s camp said on Thursday they have not yet received a copy of the petition, but Palawan provincial information officer Daisy Atrero said in a telephone interview with GMA News Online that news of the recall petition have been going around in the province. GMA News Online tried but as of this posting was unable to reach the group said to have filed the recall election petition – the Kilusan Love Malampaya (KLM) . In a statement released Wednesday, KLM accused Mitra of having “compromised" Palawan’s interest for accepting Malacañang’s offer of a significantly smaller portion of the province’s share of royalties amounting to P60 billion paid by the Malampaya consortium operating the natural gas project in offshore northern Palawan close to the municipality of El Nido. Carlo Gomez, member of the Mitra’s legal team, said the petitioners sought to remove the incumbent Palawan governor – allegedly for having lost the voters’ “trust and confidence" – to be followed by elections for his replacement. Gomez said the petitioners claimed to have garnered 158,000 signatures in a signature campaign, in an estimated voting population of 350,000 in Palawan. “It is ironic that the group and persons behind this petition for recall refuse to respect the voice of Palawan. Nevertheless, we are confident and strong to face the issue because we believe we have fortified the trust and confidence [given] by the people of Palawan to the present administration," said Mitra’s camp through a text message from Atrero. “The fact that we have delivered and performed the primary programs of Governor Mitra remove our worries on the negative implications of the recall petition," the statement said. In October last year, the Supreme Court dismissed with finality a previous recall petition filed against Mitra. — MRT/VS, GMA News

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