Sun.Star: Mati is now a city

MATI Mayor Francisco G. Rabat may just have received one of the greatest gifts on his birthday -- the cityhood of his hometown. On his 73rd birthday Tuesday, the Commission on Elections officially proclaimed the ratification of Republic Act 9408 converting the Municipality of Mati into a component city to be known as City of Mati. Mati election officer Ali Sangcopan officially declared the ratification of the Mati cityhood with the Yes votes winning by a huge margin over the No votes. Final tabulation showed Yes got 18,267 votes while No garnered only 846. There are 18,267 actual voters out of the 51,287 registered voters in 26 villages and 266 polling precincts during the June 18 plebiscite. It was observed that only about 35 percent of the total registered voters actually voted during the June 18 plebiscite, Sangcopan said this has however no bearing on their decision to ratify the citihood of Mati as the law just calls for the plurality of votes as the basis for their proclamation. "Since majority of those who voted says yes, then we declare starting Wednesday the ratification of the City of Mati," Sangcopan said. In a radio interview, the mayor thanked Representative Mayo Joel Almario for this latest development, saying that the congressman should be given the credit for working hard for the passing of the cityhood bill in Congress. "Ang pasalamatan gyud nato dinha si Representative Mayo Almario kay sya man gyud ang milihok dinha (Our gratitude must go to Representative Mayo Almario because he was the one who move for it)," Rabat said. With the ratification, Rabat is the first-ever city mayor of Mati. He said his remaining wish now is for him to return home and serve his people with his remaining days as the local chief executive. "Pangandoy ko na taga-buntag ug gabii na makauli ko dinha sa Mati. Maayo-ayo naman akong lawas, medyo mibalik na ta sa normal. Mangayo pa kog mga tulo ka semana aron makabalik nang panlawas nako. Ok naman ko, nag-istorya naman gani ta (it’s always my dream everyday to be back in Mati. I am just waiting for around three days. I am good now)," Rabat said in a live radio interview Tuesday morning. Rabat took a leave of absence after he was diagnosed with cancer few months ago. He chose not to seek reelection during the May 14 elections and instead fielded his daughter Michelle for the post. Michelle eventually won over her opponent and will be taking over her father on July 1. Reports reaching Sun.Star, however, showed the Supreme Court has already issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) for the holding of the plebiscite. Sangcopan said he however has not received a copy of the SC decision and refused to make any comment on the possible effect of the Supreme Court TRO on their declaration of the ratification of the City of Mati. - Sun.Star