Comelec suspends QC poll tiebreaker

MANILA, Philippines - The Commission on Elections (Comelec) suspended yesterday a tiebreaker to determine the winner of the top post of Barangay Mariblo in San Francisco del Monte, Quezon City.

Top barangay chairman candidates Oliver Algas and Jerome Tacza garnered the same number of votes and a drawing of lots would have decided which of them would win the race.

“As per the (earlier) Comelec resolution, the tiebreaker, through drawing of lots, will be done five days after the elections, or on Saturday. That will be the tiebreaker, (there will be) no recount,” said District 1 election officer Ronald Sindo.

Sindo said “their names will be written on strips of paper and placed in a box and the chairperson of the barangay (board of canvassers) will pick a name,” Sindo explained.

The method for the tiebreaker is mandated by a Comelec resolution applying to barangay elections, he said.

However, the Comelec issued another resolution Friday, granting a motion filed by another candidate, Narciso Gabonada Hermosa Jr., to suspend the process.

Hermosa said that if the tiebreaker proceeded as scheduled, it will eventually lead to the proclamation of the chairman of Barangay Mariblo, to his prejudice.

Hermosa moved for the suspension “as it could significantly alter the number of votes received” by him “and would materially affect the results of the elections.”

Hermosa said suspending the tiebreaker was necessary “so as not to pre-empt the determination of the rightful winner in the elections.”

The Comelec, last Oct. 26, in response to another petition filed by Hermosa, declared another candidate, Nariso Gabriel Hermosa Jr., as a nuisance candidate and ordered the latter’s name be stricken from the official list of candidates for the Oct. 25 barangay polls.

Barangay Mariblo has less than 2,000 registered voters, said Sindo, who was amused by the unique situation in his area. He said it was the first time it happened in his district.