Garcia leads Cebu City mayoral count

CEBU CITY – The first day of the canvassing of votes here officially began yesterday.

The count, however, could drag on for more than two weeks, said Bando Osmeña - Pundok Kauswagan chief legal counsel and former Commission on Elections commissioner Pedro Flores.

The canvassing actually began last Tuesday but was stopped by the board of canvassers because of "physical impossibility."

The board was only able to canvass the results of four precincts at that time, one of which was set aside because it lacked the signatures of the board of election inspectors.

Although yesterday’s canvassing began at about 9:30 a.m., only the election returns of Barangays Cogon Pardo, San Nicolas and Camputhaw were canvassed as of 3:25 p.m.

Initial results showed re-electionist Mayor Alvin Garcia of the Kugi Uswag Sugbo in the lead with 1,956 votes. BO-PK mayoralty bet Tomas Osmeña, meanwhile, got 1,608 votes. Kusug vice mayoral bet Rico Rey Francis Holganza got 1,943 votes while BO-PK’s Michael Rama got 1,593 votes.

The unofficial quick count of the Cebu-Citizens’ Involvement and Maturation in People’s Empowerment and Liberation (C-CIMPEL), as of 5:56 p.m., however, revealed that Garcia got 69,842 votes while Osmeña got 70,184. Rama got 72,136 votes while Holganza got 63,511 votes.

The C-CIMPEL quick count already accounted for 55.51 percent of the city’s total voting population. — Freeman News Service