Comelec orders recount of votes in Parañaque

The Commission on Election (Comelec) has ordered a recount of votes in several precincts in Parañaque City after a losing mayoralty candidate and the proclaimed mayor swapped charges of fraud.

In a four-page order, the Comelec Second Division ordered both former mayor Pablo Olivarez and Mayor Florencio Bernabe Jr. to deposit P594,427 and P459,624, respectively, to cover the expenses for the recount. The amount exclude expenses for gathering all the contested ballot boxes in every precinct, providing security, and transporting them to the Electoral Contest Adjudication Board (ECAD) at the Comelec head office in Intramuros, Manila.

Olivarez, who has served as Parañaque City mayor for two terms from 1989 to 1995, is questioning the results of the elections in 689 polling centers. Bernabe, the erstwhile city Vice Mayor, defeated Olivarez by some 500 votes.

The Comelec Second Division actually reversed the earlier ruling of the Parañaque board of election inspectors citing that "he (Olivarez) had not indicated the particular electoral irregularities committed in that polling precincts, thereby making scattershot allegations."

But in issuing the ruling, the Second Division, composed of Commissioners Mehol Sadain, Florentino Tuason Jr., and Manuel Barcelona Jr., said that "the anomalies complained of, and how they were committed were clearly recited." In fact, the ruling said that it is ironic that the allegations and the enumeration of counter-protests were made in a similar presentation as those in the protest.

"If we are to deny the protest (by Olivarez) on the ground protestee (Bernabe) wants us to, then his counter-protest should likewise be denied," it further stated.

The Comelec gave the parties 10 days from receipt of the order to comply with the cash deposit requirement and the Parañaque’s election officer to deliver the contested ballot boxes also within 10 days from receipt of the order but only "if the protagonists have paid up."