Bogo opposition bets ask Comelec for fair balloting

Candidates of One Cebu party in Bogo formally filed a petition before the Commission on Elections provincial office asking it to secure a fair count of ballots in the town during the May 14 elections.

During a press conference yesterday, Mayoralty candidate Valeriano Hortelano and vice mayoralty candidate Tita Dy said they are asking the Comelec to implement secured voting booths inside the polling precincts in the municipality.

According to Hortelano, in the previous elections in the town, there were no proper voting booths that voters were not able to fill their ballots secretly.

Bogo is a known bailiwick of the Martinez clan and Hortelano is running against former congressman Celestino "Junnie" Martinez Jr., who is seeking to succeed his son, Celestino "Tining," the incumbent mayor.

Tining is running for Congress in a bid to succeed his mother, Clavel, who is now in her last term as representative of the fourth district.

Hortelano and Dy said they are apprehensive that the names of voters from the permanent list might be transferred from one precinct to another.

"Kining mga Martinez nadungog naman g''yud ni silang mga tikasan busa ato g''yud bantayan sa iniphanay ug hangtod gyud sa katapusan," Hortelano said.

They also requested the Comelec to conduct the canvassing of election returns at the Don Celestino Martinez Sports Complex instead of the Session Hall of the municipal building.

"As we have reliably been informed, there exist a door or passage from the Mayor''s Office to the Session Hall where the canvassing of election returns is to be conducted providing an easy access," their two-page letter of complaint to the Comelec said.

Provincial election officer Lionel Marco Castillano said he would ask the Comelec officer in Bogo, Jose Menguez, on the request of the candidates, and will make recommendation before their Manila office.

Castillano said the Comelec is also studying the petition of congressional candidate Benhur Salimbangon asking their office to transfer Menguez outside the fourth district.

In his petition dated March 30, Salimbangon said Menguez has been serving as the legal counsel of the Martinezes in 2001.

Salimbangon, who is running against Tining, cited that he wanted Menguez out of Bogo for allegedly interfering in the concerns of the Comelec-Medellin by asking a copy of the list of deleted voters due to transfer.

Salimbangon was previously registered in Medellin but was de-listed there for his failure to vote twice. However, he later transferred his registration to Daanbantayan. - Garry B. Lao/LPM