ILOILO City – Health and family. These were the reasons 71-year-old Mayor Jessie Alecto of Dingle, Iloilo cited for resigning.
“I’ve been in public service for 44 long years. I need to rest. Being mayor is no joke,” said Alecto.
He would have chest pains whenever he got tired, he revealed.
Alecto’s resignation effective July 1 caught many by surprise. But he revealed yesterday that when he agreed to run for mayor in the 2016 election, he planned to quit after only six months in office.
“But it was unfortunate that Vice Mayor Rufino Palabrica III was charged with graft. This delayed my resignation,” said Alecto yesterday.
It was only in May that the Sandiganbayan First Division dismissed the four counts of graft charges filed against Palabrica, citing the violation of the official’s right to a speedy disposition his cases.
Alecto said his two children, based in the United States for quite a long time already, wanted him to be with them.
He assured the people of Dingle that their town was in good hands.
Palabrica, he said, was a good man and doctor by profession.
Palabrica was charged with violating Section 3(h) of Republic Act 3019 (Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act) for allegedly using a dummy in a construction company to bag construction projects of the municipal government of Dingle when he was the town mayor between 2007 to 2010.
In a resolution dated May 28, 2018, the Sandiganbayan also granted the Motion to Quash and/or Dismiss and to Defer Arraignment, dated March 27, 2018, of Palabrica.
Alecto and Palabrica ran under the local political party Abyan Ilonggo of Cong. Ferjenel Biron (4th District, Iloilo) in the 2016 election.
Then the vice mayor, Alecto said he did not want to run for mayor but reconsidered his decision to help Palabrica, a three-termer mayor barred by law from seeking a fourth consecutive term.
Palabrica ran for vice mayor./PN
