Re-elected lawmaker dismisses poll protest

By George Trillo

SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga– Re-elected third district Rep. Aurelio Gonzales Jr. dismissed as a “loser’s privilege in a democracy” the electoral protest filed against him by his rival.

“In fact, I welcome his move if only to give him the satisfaction that he needs for whatever it is worth, and for the vindication of the people whose reputation he has seriously damaged by his allegations of wrongdoing,” Gonzales said in a statement last week.

Last May 24, Gonzales’ rival, Jose Quiwa III filed before the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal an electoral protest against the congressman who defeated him with a margin of 171,011 votes in the third district’s four towns and one city.

Based on the final count, Quiwa got 24,640 votes against Gonzales’ 195,651 votes.

In his protest, Quiwa alleged the results were mathematically improbable and accused the heads of the various Boards of Election Inspectors of conspiring to manipulate the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines.

But Gonzales said Quiwa’s charges were baseless. “I have never been involved in vote-buying and other illegal election activities since I entered politics because I have always relied on the people’s trust and confidence in me as their public leader and partner in service,” he said.

Gonzales said surveys that he commissioned before the elections showed he was way ahead in the congressional race and the May 10 poll results only confirmed the surveys.

“The numbers did not lie and they were obviously in my favor and convincingly refute allegation of the results’ mathematical improbability,” he said.

“You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to predict the outcome based on the surveys,” he added.