DOJ chief’s son replaces father as Cavite congressman

MANILA, Philippines — Another Remulla is getting a seat in the House of Representatives.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) yesterday proclaimed Crispin Diego “Ping” Remulla, son of Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla, as the newly elected representative of Cavite’s seventh legislative district.

Ping Remulla, who ran under the banner of the National Unity Party (NUP), was proclaimed by the Comelec Provincial Board of Canvassers headed by lawyer Mitzele Veron Morales-Castro, and members Vivian Rojo and Rommel Bautista at the Legislative Building of the Cavite Provincial Capitol in Trece Martires City yesterday morning.

“After such canvass, it appears that Remulla, Ping NUP (National Unity Party) garnered 98,474 votes (66.67 percent of the total number of votes) for the office of member, House of Representatives, the same being the highest number of votes legally cast for the said office,” the board declared.

Remulla led over three independent candidates: Jun de Sagun, who obtained 46,530 votes, or 31.50 percent of the total votes, followed by Lito Aguinaldo with 1,610 votes (1.09 percent) and Mike Santos with 1,068 (0.72 percent).

The younger Remulla will take over the post vacated by his father Boying Remulla when the latter was appointed to the Department of Justice’s top post.

The newly proclaimed congressman can assume the congressional seat as early as today, according to Comelec Chairman George Garcia.

A total of 149,581 actually voted out of the total 355,184 registered voters from the municipalities of Amadeo, Indang, Tanza and Trece Martires City – a 42.11-percent voter turnout during the special election, according to the Comelec.

At a press briefing last Saturday night, Garcia declared the Cavite special poll as “very peaceful.”

All the vote counting machines that the Comelec deployed for the exercise functioned normally, according to the poll body’s chief.

“There were no problems encountered by any of the voting machines,” he said.

The National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections concurred with Garcia’s assessment of the recent election.

“In general, NAMFREL observers described the conduct of the closing and counting processes as smooth and peaceful, and members of the electoral boards appeared well-trained and knowledgeable of the automated process,” the poll watchdog said in a statement.

Namfrel noted that no major issues affected the use of the automated election system.

Cavite Police director Col. Christopher Olazo, who provided security for the event and also witnessed the proclamation together with Garcia and four other Comelec commissioners, declared the special election as “generally peaceful and orderly” after no untoward incidents occurred in the three towns and the City of Trece Martires.

Olazo commended 816 police personnel, military, coast guards and 600 force multipliers for their excellent tasking performance and a job well done.

He also thanked the voters who participated in the special election for their cooperation with police personnel.