Arcinue Acting Sual Mayor

 By Mortz C. Ortigoza

DAGUPAN CITY – Vice Mayor John Christopher A. Arcinue assumed as acting chief executive of Sual, Pangasinan after Mayor Liseldo “Dong” Calugay was diagnosed with dengue fever.

According to Arcinue’s grandfather, former Sual Mayor Roberto” Beng” Arcinue, his grandson became acting mayor last September 9 after he received Executive Order No. 045 from Calugay.

Sual Acting Mayor John Cristopher Arcinue (far left) and beleguered on leave Mayor Liseldo "Dong" Calugay (far right). Sacked Bamban Mayor Alice Guo (center) is with the former during a mass wedding of his constituents in Sual, Pangasinan.

“Mga Kapitanes namin tumawag sa akin na si JC na ang acting mayor ngayon,” the seasoned politician, once the appointed acting mayor of Lingayen when President Corazon Aquino became Philippines president in 1986, quipped to this writer last Monday.

“The Municipal Vice Mayor of Sual, Pangasinan Hon. John Christopher A. Arcinue is hereby designated as the Acting Mayor of the Municipality of Sual, Pangasinan for a period of five (5) days, from September 9, 2024 to September 13, 2024, unless otherwise extended or earlier terminated by the resumption of the duties of the Municipal Mayor,” excerpt of the letter of Mayor Calugay.

The Local Government Code of the Philippines mandates: “When … (a) municipal mayor… is temporarily incapacitated to perform his duties for physical or legal reasons such as, but not limited to, leave of absence, travel abroad, and suspension from office, the… municipal vice-mayor … shall automatically exercise the powers and perform the duties and functions of the local chief executive concerned, except the power to appoint, suspend, or dismiss employees which can only be exercised if the period of temporary incapacity exceeds thirty (30) working days.”

Calugay has been invited into two hearings by the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality chaired by Senator Risa Hontiveros but failed to attend the September 5 and 9 schedules due to the dengue fever. This was attested by Jasfer Neil B. Nadong, MD of the Sual Primary Care Facility-Infirmary when he examined Calugay on September 3.

Some senators have been linking the mayor and sacked Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo in a romantic relationship and illegal activities like running the already closed by authority’s multi-billion pesos' Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) hub in Bamban.

In the September 5 hearing, Shiela Guo, the alleged sister of Alice, said that a big aquafarm in Sual is named Alisel - a concoction of the names of Alice and Liseldo – the mayor.

According to a source of Northern Watch Newspaper, Alisel bought 150 fish cages from a businessman in Pangasinan worth P1.65 million each or P247, 500, 000 in all.

In the September 9 hearing, Cheryl Orduna-Medina, the executive assistant of Mayor Calugay, was accused by Senators to be involved on illegal notarization of the document of Guo despite the latter absconded already to other country. Notarization, as required by law, needs for the affiant to be personally present when the lawyer signs it.