Thursday, July 19, 2007 San Fernando mayor files perjury case v. rival
SAN FERNANDO Mayor Lakambini Reluya filed a case of perjury against Renee Canoy, her opponent last May 14.
In a complaint filed last Tuesday, Reluya said Canoy made a “willful and deliberate assertion of falsehood” in a petition she filed before the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
The complaint was filed days after the recounting of votes for the town started in the sala of Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 18 Judge Gilbert Moises.
Canoy, in her objection to include in the canvass the election returns of Barangay Panadtaran, said mayoral candidate Erico Enad received 32 votes but the certificate of votes reflected that Enad got only 19 votes.
“There is therefore a deliberate and malicious assertion of falsehood made by Canoy in order to strengthen her case, which is clearly in violation of Article 183 of the Revised Penal Code,” read Reluya’s complaint.
Canoy, wife of former mayor Antonio Canoy, filed an election protest before the court and asked for a recount of votes in all of the town’s 155 precincts.
She alleged that Reluya employed “guns, gold and goons” during the last elections. Canoy lost to Reluya by a mere 40 votes.
Reluya, for her part, said the court would be wasting time by doing the recount in the event that mayoralty candidate Edilberto Canoy will not be disqualified by the Comelec.
The recount, lawyer Casiano Lomotos Jr. said, does not mean that all “Canoy” votes will be counted in favor of Renee. (KNT)
