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RAMON, Isabela: The Commission on
Elections (Comelec) on Tuesday will start recanvassing the May 2004
election returns to determine with finality the real winner for
mayor in this town.
The Comelec en
banc ordered the new members of the Municipal Board of Canvassers to
immediately proclaim the winner after recounting the 41 contested
elections returns, which is expected to last for only a day.
The recount will
be conducted at the Comelec main office in Intramuros, Manila.
The recount came
after Comelec Chairman Benjamin Abalos affirmed the earlier decision
of its First Division declaring the proclamation of Mayor Wilfredo
Tabag as “illegal.”
“Technicalities
of the legal rules enunciated in the elections laws should not
frustrate the determination of the popular will,” said the Comelec
order in dismissing Tabag’s last-ditch effort to prevent the
recanvassing of the election returns earlier sought by his rival,
Raymond Espidol.
In 2006 Espidol
was ousted as mayor after he lost in a recount presided over by the
old board of canvassers, led by the lawyer Jerbee Cortez, the
election officer of Santiago City.
In January,
however, the Comelec’s First Division declared Tabag’s
proclamation as illegal due to “totally spurious, grossly
substituted and clearly manufactured’ election returns” that
marred the earlier recount last year.
“Clearly,
Tabag’s proclamation is illegal, without authority from the
commission, hence, null and void. Consequently, Tabag’s
proclamation is hereby annulled,” stated the 27-page resolution
dated January 31, signed by Commissioners Resurrección Borra, the
First Division’s presiding officer, and Romeo Brawner.
The election
returns recanvassed by the old MBOC did not match with the original
copies of the same three documents that showed Espidol the
legitimate winner in the election, the Comelec said.
In the 2004
elections, Espidol was proclaimed as the duly elected mayor after
obtaining 8,647 votes against Tabag’s 6,635 or a margin of 2,012.
However, in 2005, a recount was conducted by another set of MBOC,
led by Cortez, showing Tabag won with 8,228 votes against
Espidol’s 6,916 votes.
 --Francis
C. Hidalgo Jr.
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