A mayoral candidate in San Juan City on Wednesday asked the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to disqualify his rival, incumbent Mayor Guia Gomez, over alleged electoral fraud in the recently concluded elections.
Vice Mayor Francis Zamora, a candidate of the Nacionalista Party (NP) and son of House Minority leader Ronaldo “Ronny” Zamora, filed his electoral protest before the Comelec a week after the May 9 elections.
Zamora claimed that the camp of Gomez was involved in massive vote-buying, using government funds to secure votes, and allowed dead and unregistered voters to vote.
“All these are backed up by testimonies, sworn statements, videos, and photos,” Zamora said.
“The sacred vote of the people of San Juan was stolen from us. I intend to bring everyone involved to justice,” he added.
Aside from the electoral protest, Zamora said he will also file criminal and administrative charges against Gomez and other officials next week.
“I will continue to fight for the truth so that the real voice of the people of San Juan will be heard and counted. Our fight for change and freedom carries as our quest for justice begins,” he added.
Gomez denied the allegations of vote buying.
“It caught me by surprise, but somehow, I expect it because here in our country no one is accepting defeat, either they won or were cheated,” Gomez said.
“So, I expected that because my lead is only 1,200 votes, which I also did not expect I could only won by a slim margin,” Gomez, who is now on her third and final term as city mayor, added.
Gomez got 28,828 votes while Zamora garnered 27,604 votes.