Execution of order sought

Dinagat Islands Representative Ruben Ecleo has been asked to pay damages to the municipality of San Jose in Surigao del Norte in the amount of P2.8 million. In his motion filed before the Sandiganbayan First Division, Special Prosecutor Diosdado Calonge sought from the cour…

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House to remove Rep. Ecleo from roster in May

The House of Representatives will soon lose a member when Dinagat Island Representative Ruben Ecleo Jr. is removed from its roster next month. Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said the House intends to remove Ecleo from the list of 283 lawmakers when it receives the certified…

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Tagana-an Mayor survived in ambush

Tagana-an Mayor Cesar Diaz survived an ambush near the boundary of Barangays Laurel and Union, Tagana-an, this province around 11:20am Monday, April 18, 2011. According to 30th Infantry “Python” Battalion Commanding Officer LTC Erwin Rommel Lamzon, Mayor Diaz was driving hi…

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RTC orders Rep Ecleo’s arrest

After he snubbed again and again the scheduled hearings on the parricide case against him, Representative Ruben Ecleo Jr.’s bail was cancelled Wednesday by the Regional Trial Court (RTC), which issued a new warrant for his arrest. In a verbal order, RTC Judge Soliver Peras…

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Strange twist? High Court reversed its own verdict, Dinagat is back as province

MANILA, Via Smart. – In another bizarre judicial episode, Supreme Court flip-flopping anew as magistrates reversed its previous decision declaring Dinagat Island province unconstitutional. This surprising development was confirmed by Vice Gov. Jade Ecleo in a telephone inte…

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Comelec upholds poll victory of Cong. Romarate

The Second Division of the Commission On Election dismissed for lack of merit the petition filed by losing NP congressional bet in the last May 2010 elections, former Surigao City Mayor Alfonso Cassura to nullify election results by the Provincial Board of Canvassers (PBOC)…

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Dinagat wins in new SC flip-flop

The Supreme Court on Tuesday, March 29, flip-flopped again, this time on the issue of whether or not Dinagat Island is a province. Voting 9 in favor and 6 against, the high court reversed an earlier ruling which declared unconstitutional Republic Act No. 9355, the law that …

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Dinagatnons hold mass protest, ask SC to reconsider Dinagat’s provincehood

Around two thousand Dinagatnons converged at San Jose town on Saturday afternoon, March 12 asking the Supreme Court (SC) justices to reconsider their decision in declaring “constitutional” the law creating the province of Dinagat Islands. Armed with banners and streamers, o…

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Sandiganbayan orders Rep. Ecleo’s arrest for 3rd time

THE Sandiganbayan, for the third time, ordered the arrest of Dinagat Island Representative Robert Ecleo Jr., after it scrapped the latter's motion. In a resolution, the anti-graft court’s first division junked Ecleo's “very urgent motion for reconsideration” for the…

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No sked yet for Surigao Norte special elections, says COMELEC-Caraga

The Commission on Elections Caraga regional office here today said they have not received order so far from Comelec central office Manila to conduct Surigao del Norte provincial special elections after Supreme Court issued an En Banc Notice dated January 11, 2011 signed and…

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Dinagat belongs to Surigao-SC says with finality, ordered COMELEC to conduct Special Elections without delay…

After showing its most diplomatic gesture on the embattled Dinagat Case deliberation, the Supreme Court (SC) finally ended up the long political agony after issuing an En Banc Notice dated January 11, 2011 signed and released on January 26, 2011 by Enriqueta E. Vidal, Clerk…

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Sandigan: Rep. Ecleo's Conviction is Final, Appeal Dismissed

The Sandiganbayan First Division on Monday dismissed Dinagat Island Rep. Ruben Ecleo Jr.’s eleventh-hour attempt to keep himself from being arrested, following his conviction on three counts of graft in 2006. In a one-page order, the anti-graft court denied Ecleo’s motion t…

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Speaker: Caretaker to be named in Dinagat Islands District

House Speaker Sonny Belmonte will designate a caretaker for the soon-to be vacated district of convicted Dinagat Islands Rep. Ruben Ecleo, Jr. Belmonte ruled out calling for a special election for the district of Dinagat Islands. Belmonte says it is possible that district …

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Electoral protests vs Romarate, Matugas, Egay dismissed

The Second Division of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) has dismissed for lack of merit the election protest against three elected officials in Surigao del Norte. The Comelec Second Division dismissed the petition to nullify election results filed by former officials o…

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Nitoy’s BOSS Party: A crack in the wall of Padajon Surigao?

Approximately 100 days into office, City Mayor Ernesto “Nitoy” Matugas appears likely to be taking himself out from the shell of political party Padajon Surigao and aggressively organized his own group BOSS (Baruganan Oportunidad Serbisyong Surigaonon) despite the raising…

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NEWS ANALYSIS… Sol-Nitoy: One term officials says observers, Casurra-Barbers group still intact…

The new political order in the province of Surigao del Norte whose leadership being branded as “Ang Bag-ong Surigao” or “The New Surigao” appears likely to be not so strong as what their political mouthpiece are telling. Setting aside the two-termer 2nd district solon Cong.…

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Mayor Nitoy doubles reward for arrest of suspect who stabbed his political analyst

City Mayor Ernesto Matugas has doubled the cash reward from P50,000 to P100,000 for any information leading to the arrest of a man who stabbed his political analyst and acting City Administrator Balgamelo Cabiling Ma. Ma, 59 years old, married, was stabbed using an improvise…

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Padajon lawyers seek dismissal of poll protest

The battery of lawyers of Partido Padajon Surigao is all set to file a motion to dismiss before the COMELEC in a move to get rid of the poll protest filed by losing candidates from Abante Surigao. The motion will be filed in the first week of July 2010, it was learned. Atty.…

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“LOVE IS LOVELIER THE SECOND TIME AROUND”, Matugas rejoins Liberal Party

Reelected Representative Francisco Matugas (1st District, Surigao del Norte) recently found himself home again after he took an oath of allegiance as a member of the Liberal Party (LP) together with Representative Guillermo Romarate, Jr. (2nd District, Surigao del Norte), a…

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Matugas-Romarate tandem finds home in Liberal Party

The formidable tandem of Cong. Francisco Matugas and Cong. Guillermo Romarate, Jr. recently found a new home after they finally accepted several invitations to join President Noynoy Aquino's powerhouse Liberal Party and were eventually sworn in as members. The duo took t…

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