Thursday, May 24, 2007 No extra votes in Lapu, says Radaza lawyer
THE Radaza camp yesterday disputed reports the number of votes cast for mayoral candidates exceeded the number of registered voters in Lapu-Lapu City.
Lawyer Richard Sison, speaking in behalf of suspended Mayor Arturo Radaza, also stressed all the election returns are authentic, in answer to allegations from the rival camp that some were “fabricated, falsified and tampered with.”
“I want the people to know the real score. People should be provided with accurate documents,” Sison told reporters in a press conference he organized in Cebu City.
He pointed out that in an omnibus ruling last May 18, the Board of Canvassers said it was satisfied with the ERs and ordered that these be canvassed, despite objections from the camp of Acting Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Norma Patalinghug.
Appeal
It was that order that prompted Patalinjug’s lawyer, Romeo Igot, to file the following day a verified notice of appeal. The Patalinghug camp has until today to file their memorandum of appeal before the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in Manila.
Sison showed reporters a certificate of votes that showed Radaza got 61,835 votes, against Pataling-hug’s 47,255 votes.
That points to a total of 109,090, far below the 148,879 registered voters in the city.
Patalinghug, in her pre-proclamation protest, has said a total of some 187,000 votes were cast for mayoral candidates. She has asked for a new canvassing, headed by a new chairman.
During the press conference, GMA 7 reporter Bong Soriano showed Sison a photocopy of a document that showed Radaza gaining 106,138 votes and Patalinghug, 82,028 votes, or a total of 188,166 votes.
Sun.Star Cebu also has a copy of the same document, provided by the Patalinghug camp.
Sison pointed out that it was a mere tally sheet, and urged reporters to get other sources, like his authenticated certificate of votes signed by Election Officer Ann Janette Chua Hu-Lamban and Prosecutor Evangeline Gicale.
Sun.Star noted, however, that the certificate had no entry in the portion intended for the number of voters who actually voted. Sison referred the question to Lamban.
Signature
Sun.Star’s copy of the tally sheet bears the signature of Supt. Rey Lyndon Lawas, head of the unit that supervises security agencies and firearms. He admitted it was his signature but denied approving that tabulation.
He believes the signature was lifted from another document he signed and then superimposed on the “tally sheet.”
Lawas confirmed that the PNP monitored election results, through its Regional Election Monitoring Center, but for their internal consumption only.
Lapu-Lapu City is one of three areas in Cebu where no winners have been proclaimed, more than a week after the elections.
The other two are Bogo town and the fourth district congressional race. (OCP)
