NV gov’s plea on poll protest junked

By Charlie Lagasca 

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya – The Commission on Elections has junked the plea of Gov. Ruth Padilla to dismiss the election case questioning her victory in last year’s midterm polls.

In its June 2 order, the poll body’s second division said the election protest filed against Padilla by her rival, former vice governor Jose Gambito, would determine who the real winner in the gubernatorial race was.

Gambito, a former three-term vice governor, asked the Comelec for the manual count of ballots cast in all the 379 clustered precincts in 13 of the province’s 15 towns.  

In her counter motion, Padilla asked the poll body to dismiss the poll protest, arguing that Gambito allegedly failed to cite detailed “acts of omissions” that showed fraud, anomalies or irregularities during the elections.