BY CHRYSEE G. SAMILLANO
Bacolod Rep. Greg Gasataya yesterday said he is just waiting for the decision of the local members of the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) in Bacolod City headed by Mayor Evelio Leonardia as to who will replace the late Councilor Elmer Sy.
Sy, 65, known for the tagline “less talk, more action”, passed away in June while being confined at the Adventist Medical Center Bacolod. He was known as a dialysis patient and was reported to have contracted COVID-19.
Gasataya, NPC district chairman, said NPC secretary general former Batangas congressman Mark Llandro Mendoza told him that they will wait for the decision of the members of the local NPC as to who they will endorse as replacement for Sy.
“Once I have the endorsement, I will bring this to Manila so a communication can be made for the approval of the President. It is the President who will sign for the replacement of Sy,” he said.
As of the moment, he has not received any communication from the members of NPC in Bacolod, as well as any communication from the Sangguniang Panlungsod. As a member of the NPC, he will wait for the decision of the local members and once they have made a decision, he bring the endorsement and recommendation as well to Manila, Gasataya said.
The one who can be nominated to replace Sy must be a member of the local party. So the decision will depend on the city officials who are members of NPC and he does not want to interfere in their process, he said.
They have already passed a resolution addressed to the Department of Interior and Local Government so he will just wait for recommendation of the local members of NPC, Gasataya added.*
