Ecija mayor unseated

GUIMBA, Nueva Ecija — Mayor Pacifico Monta of the nearby town of Talugtug, who won by a mere 80 votes in the May 2001 elections was unseated as municipal mayor after the Regional Trial Court (RTC) proclaimed this week his opponent as the winner and duly elected mayor by 70 votes.

In a 141-page decision penned by RTC Branch 13 Judge Napoleon Sta. Romana, proclaimed winner was Alfredo F. Leybag of the Laban Demokratikong Pilipino (Laban). Monta, a partymate of Nueva Ecija Gov. Tomas Joson III of the Bagong Lakas ng Nueva Ecija (Balane), was unseated as the town mayor.

Monta was proclaimed mayor of Talugtug by the municipal board of canvassers (MBC) on May 15, 2001 after obtaining 2,718 votes as against Leybag’s 2,638 or a margin of 80 votes. Leybag filed a protest with the Guimba RTC, citing instances of "dagdag-bawas" (vote-padding and vote-shaving) in favor of Monta. The court then conducted a revision of the votes cast in the town’s 52 precincts.

It was shown in the revision of the votes that the vote-padding scheme was supposedly perpetrated by the various chairmen of the board of election inspectors (BEI).

After a revision of the votes, Leybag emerged with 2,638 votes as against Monta’s 2,568 or a winning margin of 70 votes. — Manny Galvez