BY ADRIAN P. NEMES III
A resolution seeking clarification with the Department of Interior and Local Government on the process of selecting the replacement of the late Councilor Elmer Sy was passed by the Sangguniang Panlungsod Wednesday.
Councilor Renecito Novero, who authored the resolution, said that under Section 45 of the Local Government Code, if the deceased official was not affiliated with any political party, the SP will file a resolution nominating the replacement.
He said the mayor will then have to approve or disapprove the nomination.
In the case of Sy, he ran under the National People’s Coalition and won the 11th seat in the SP, that means, the president of the political party will be the one to choose his replacement, Novero also said.
With the death of Sy, Wilson Gamboa, the 12th SP member became the 11th city councilor.
But Novero said that does not mean that the candidate who got the 13th spot during the election will be automatically chosen as the replacement of the deceased official.
Sy, 66, succumbed to a lingering illness after almost a week of being confined and hooked to a life support system at the Bacolod Adventist Medical Center last month.*
