Friday, July 06, 2007 Wenceslao: ‘Fake’ election returns in Bogo By Bong O. Wenceslao Candid Thoughts
SO the 15 election returns (ERs) sent for authentication by members of the third batch of Bogo’s board of canvassers to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) office in Manila are fake after all? That should mean the rage of Benhur Salimbangon’s lawyers and supporters, capped by that citizens’ arrest controversy, may have been justified.
So the function of the board of canvassers is not just ministerial but also quasi-judicial? That should mean that the insistence of Comelec 7 Director Ray Rene Buac that members of the second batch of Bogo’s board of canvassers should just count the ERs despite questions on their authenticity may either have been a silly argument or a ploy.
The Comelec Second Division, composed of Florentino Tuason Jr., Nicodemo Ferrer and Rene Sarmiento, has ruled on the stalled canvass in Bogo that is being hotly contested by Salimbangon and Celestino “Tining” Martinez III. The decision has many ramifications, the first being Salimbangon’s win in the fourth district congressional race.
The Martinez camp has, as expected, questioned the wisdom of the decision and vowed to come up with legal remedies.
Accepting that the ERs were spurious would mean not only the defeat of Tining, which would be a severe political blow to the clan, but will also prop up earlier claims of the Salimbangon camp that the Martinezes cheated.
If the 15 ERs were fake, then who did the manufacturing? To be fair to the Martinezes, the Second Division did not make conclusions about that. But the clan could not prevent people from floating speculations. Among the protagonists in the Bogo count, only Tining’s lawyers have been consistent in insisting that the 15 ERs are genuine.
The Salimbangon camp, meanwhile, has not kept secret its next move once Benhur is proclaimed fourth district congressman. Among the targets of possible legal moves are Buac and the members of the first and second batches of Bogo’s board of canvassers. This stemmed from the belief that they tried to railroad the count.
The Bogo canvass has been messy. But that did not surprise political observers considering the determination of both the Salimbangon and Martinez camps to win the congressional race, with the count in that town (now a city) critical in achieving that goal. Besides, the canvass is important in determining the Martinezes’ political future.
If Salimbangon is proclaimed, the Martinez clan will follow the lead of its political ally, the Yapha clan in the third district that also lost the congressional race but retained its hold on its original turf, Pinamungajan town. The Martinez patriarch, Celestino Jr. or Junnie, won as Bogo mayor over the party mate of Salimbangon.
Once a clan lets go of a position, it is difficult to come back. Salimbangon’s plan to go after those he perceived as having railroaded the Bogo canvass could be both house cleaning and a consolidation of his hold on the district.
More so because he could win this one by only 308 votes. He surely does not want a repeat of that in 2010.
Change is good. The fourth district has been ruled by the Martinezes for years, so perhaps a Salimbangon stint is welcome.
He can introduce fresh ideas and new projects, plus he does not have a political rival for a governor. If he makes good, then something positive may have come out from the district’s congressional polls despite the Bogo mess.
