Comelec finally proclaims Luna as Abra rep, including other May 14 poll winners

BY DEXTER A. SEE AND MAR T. SUPNAD

BAGUIO CITY – The Commission on Elections has proclaimed the remaining poll winners in conflict-rocked Abra, particularly in the congressional race and in the mayoral contest in remote Tineg town.

Former Lagayan (Abra) Mayor Cecilia Luna was proclaimed as the new congressional representative of Abra.

This came after the Comelec’s second division denied a pre-proclamation protest filed by former Abra governor Vicente Valera -- Luna’s rival, for lack of merit.

Luna’s proclamation had been delayed for over two months as a result of Valera’s petitions seeking to declare the canvassing of votes for the congressional race illegal and to order the correction of “manifest errors.”

Claiming he was robbed of victory in the May 14 elections, Valera said the proclamation of his opponent, Cecilia Luna, should be nullified by the Comelec.

Valera told newsmen the proclamation of Luna was null and void because, he said, Luna’s votes were increased and his votes were reduced.

However, the Comelec ruled that suspending further the proclamation of Luna was “unjustified intrusion in the exercise of the electorates’ will and would deprive the people of Abra of their proper representation in the hallowed halls of Congress.”

The order added there was no compelling reason to delay the proclamation of Luna, further stating that the proper remedy by the petitioner was an election protest an not a pre-proclamation controversy or a petition for correction of errors.

Valera sought the correction of “manifest errors” in the votes cast in the municipalities of Manabo and Bangued, alleging glaring discrepancies in the election returns, statement of votes, and certificates of canvass.

Earlier, Luna won by a slight margin of 610 votes over Valera in the May 14 elections.

Records showed she had garnered 34,103 votes, compared to Valera’s 33,493 votes.

At the same time, the special municipal board of canvassers of Tineg, Abra proclaimed the winning municipal officials in Abra’s remotest town.

The proclamation of winners came after the special board of canvassers chaired by lawyer Armando Velasco, Cordillera regional director, conducted the canvassing of election returns from three contested precincts in the town.

Incumbent Tineg Mayor Edwin Crisologo emerged victorious with 1,031 votes over his rival, Lenin Binwaren who garnered 950 votes or a margin of 81 votes.

Lawyer Estelita Cordero said that Crisologo was not around during the proclamation due to serious threat to his life.

Elected Vice Mayor was Mauro Gavino who garnered 605 votes, while his rival, Jesus Valencia, collected 524 votes.

This, as Valera said the votes were erroneously counted with the adding of 2,000 votes to his opponent’ summary of statement of votes.

Citing the statement of votes by voting precincts as recorded in the document (serial No. 0011663), Valera said Luna got 563 votes, but Luna’s votes increased to 1,563 or by 1,000 votes.

“So simple, they just inserted 1 before the number 1,563, votes,” Valera said.

He also said in another statement of votes (serial No. 0011666) by precincts, Luna garnered 649 votes, but in the summary of statements of votes, Luna’s votes increased to 1,649.

“The truth is,” Valera said, “Luna got only 4,660 votes in the summary of the statement of votes (Serial No. 0002103), but what appeared as grand total was 6,660. They erased the ‘4,’ and wrote ‘6.”

“They thwarted the will of the people, “Valera said.

The Comelec tally showed that Luna garnered 34,103 votes, while Valera got 33,493 votes. The margin was 610 votes, he said.

Through a ruling promulgated by the Comelec’s 2nd Division, Commissioners Rene Sarmiento and Nicodemo Ferrer voted to deny the appeal and petition of Valera for lack of merit.