Friday, February 22, 2008 Tining claims 3,000 lead
CELESTINO “Tining” Martinez III yesterday declared victory over fourth district Rep. Benhur Salimbangon in the recount of votes at the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET).
Martinez told Sun.Star Cebu that he won by over 3,000 in the recount of votes for the district’s hotly-contested congressional seat.
“I feel vindicated. Despite all the maneuvering that they did, now the truth is finally out about what they were doing in the elections,” he told Sun.Star Cebu yesterday.
Salimbangon, meanwhile, laughed off the report and said it was merely a political gimmick of the Martinezes, his fierce political rivals.
Salimbangon said that Martinez was simply preempting the decision of the HRET, saying HRET officials are not that “stupid” to hasten the proceedings despite what he described as obvious tampering and doctoring of election returns and ballots.
“The truth will always prevail. I appeal to my constituents in the fourth district to remain calm. There is no cause for alarm,” Salimbangon told Sun.Star Cebu last night.
Soon?
Martinez said he learned on Thursday last week that the HRET recount showed he had 3,474 more votes than Salimbangon in last May’s election.
Although HRET will still ask both camps to present oral arguments next month, Martinez said he hopes to be proclaimed as the district’s representative “anytime soon.”
While he admitted the poll protest can drag on, Martinez said he is satisfied that the records have been set straight.
Martinez said that while his move to question more than 15,000 stray ballots could further delay the case, he wants to protect the rights of people who voted for him.
Martinez had asked that votes for “Martinez” or “C. Martinez,” which were considered stray, be counted in his favor.
The votes were considered stray because another Martinez, Edelito, ran during the elections. Edelito, a habal-habal driver, was declared a nuisance candidate a month after the elections. With the declaration, Martinez wants the stray votes counted in his favor.
Wicked
Martinez’s camp described Edelito’s candidacy as “a wicked and desperate scheme to derail (his) candidacy.” They said it deprived Tining of “valid genuine votes cast in his favor.”
Salimbangon, however, said that had he not been a victim of election fraud, he would have won by 4,000 votes over Martinez, based on records from the election watchdog Cebu-Citizens Involvement and Maturation in People’s Empowerment and Liberation.
Salimbangon was declared the winner by just 104 votes.
Lawyer Delon Richel Ramon Urot, legal counsel of Salimbangon, said reports of Martinez winning the recount were “false hopes” being circulated by the Martinezes.
“There’s nothing new (about the reports that Tining won in his protest). Since January, actually, they have been spreading similar rumors that he will sit (as congressman),” Urot said.
Martinez had questioned the results in all towns of the fourth district. They said the ballots were prepared by someone not authorized to do so.
Urot, however, said HRET is not even halfway in the revision of the contested ballots and still has “plenty of things that need to be done.”
The HRET is conducting revision and examination before making the preliminary appreciation of the contested ballots, explained Urot.
After the preliminary appreciation, he said both parties are required to lay down their evidence to substantiate their claims. Then, they will be ordered to present new arguments for the cause of action before the House tribunal decides on the petition, he said.
The lawyer said that the HRET even discovered that ballots in the nine towns of the fourth district were tampered with, which was similar to what happened to the election returns.
“The House tribunal officials are not that stupid to resolve the case,” said Urot. (GMD/CYR)
