Poll protest vs. Diamantes nixed

CEBU, Philippines - The Regional Trial Court in Toledo City has dismissed the election protests filed by defeated mayoralty and vice mayoralty candidates against the sitting mayor and vice mayor of the municipality of Tuburan.

RTC Branch 29 presiding Judge Ruben Altubar dismissed the election protests of mayoralty candidate Rose Marie Suezo and vice mayoralty candidate Daphne Lagon against brothers Mayor Democrito Diamante and Vice Mayor Danilo Diamante.

In separate orders dated July 30, 2013, Altubar said the election protests filed by the two are “not sufficient in form and content.”

“Nasuta sa korte nga wala, naa gi-dismiss,” Mayor Diamante told reporters at the Capitol yesterday. He said that he has no plan to file counter-charges against their opponent.

Last May 13 elections, Suezo and Lagon ran under the One Cebu Party against the Diamantes of the Liberal Party.

Mayor Diamante got 19,613 votes over Suezo’s 12,878 votes, while Vice Mayor Diamante got 18,187 votes over Lagon who only got 12,602 votes.

This prompted Suezo and Lagon to contest the results of all the 68 clustered precincts of Tuburan with 34,491 registered voters who actually voted in the election.  They alleged massive fraud, anomalies, irregularities and rampant terrorism perpetrated by the Diamantes.

But the court said that the allegations “are all bare allegations and are not supported by convincing and substantial evidence.”

The court said that no minute of the Board of Election Inspectors reflecting any complaint by protestant’s watchers has been submitted to support those allegations.

It said that there is even no affidavit to that effect when not only watchers and supporters of the respective parties were in the polling precincts during the elections but also members of church organizations accredited by the Commission on Elections.

“It is hard to believe that the alleged massive frauds in a particular precinct of Tuburan similarly happened in all the other 67 precincts in said municipality including those precincts where protestant won,” the court said.

The court added that nothing that the two had submitted in support of their election protest showed that their lawyers questioned the canvassing in the course of the proceeding.  (FREEMAN)