Sunday, May 11, 2008
New Pardo bry. chief not in a rush
FORMER Poblacion Pardo, Cebu City barangay councilor Fermin Dasmariñas is not in a hurry to replace Barangay Captain Danilo Lim, saying he will just wait for either the court or the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to issue the order.
He said he was not really adamant at contesting the results of last October’s elections, where he lost to Lim by 52 votes.
But, he said, his supporters could not take the result and nagged him to ask for a recount, which he did on Nov. 8, a day before the lapse of the 10-day period within which he could file a protest.
Last May 8, the court declared Dasmariñas the election winner after the recount, leading Lim by 134 votes.
Lim is filing next week an appeal and a petition for injunction before the Comelec in Manila.
Probe office
He will also ask the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas to investigate the City Treasurer’s Office (CTO), believing that ballot-switching took place while the ballot boxes containing Poblacion Pardo votes were in its custody.
Lim, represented by lawyer Ervin Estardante, said they noticed that in precincts where he supposedly had a lead of seven votes, for example, the recount result showed he was the one who lost by the same number of votes.
In a separate interview, City Treasurer Tessie Camarillo said she is not even the one holding the keys to the ballot boxes, as she has delegated the task to several personnel.
She said she will speak with and ask them about Lim’s allegations.
Lawyer Edwin Cadungog, south district election officer, acknowledged that it is possible to have genuine but fake ballots.
These ballots are made from authentic materials but are not the actual documents used in elections.
But, he said, it is up to the aggrieved party to prove that something unlawful was done.
And while the Comelec has the series records of the ballots issued to a particular precinct, he said that it could not be established that the ballot was indeed the one used in the precinct.
“Only the middle portion of the ballot is left while its upper and lower portions with the markings are detached,” he said in Bisaya.
‘Expert witness’
Cadungog said Lim will likely come up with an “expert witness who knows how to appreciate the ballot, whether fake or not.”
He said that as far as he is concerned, he will just wait for instructions from Comelec Manila regarding the matter.
Dasmariñas said that given that ballots were switched, he had no idea about it, and Lim, in making the allegation, is implicating Mayor Tomas Osmeña.
He added that if he could wait six months for the court to render a decision, a few more days won’t matter.
He said the court is supposed to issue the order after five days, within which Lim should file his appeal, have lapsed.
He also said that while he and the other Poblacion Pardo councilors allied themselves with the administration last year, alienating Lim, he never received any help from the mayor during the election and even in the filing of the election protest and petition for a recount.
Legal remedies
Cadungog said the court decision declaring Dasmariñas the winner is not yet final since Lim has five days to submit an appeal.
He said Comelec Manila will issue the order to execute the judgment if it upholds the court decision.
He explained that it is the CTO, which takes custody of the ballot boxes and the ballots after the election.
Records of the minutes and the Comelec copies of the election returns are the ones that go to their office, he said.
Lim, a critic of the current administration, belongs to the opposition, which counts Lahug Barangay Captain Mary Ann de los Santos and Cogon Pardo Barangay Captain Eugenio Gabuya as members.
Last year, Dasmariñas led Poblacion Pardo barangay councilors in swearing loyalty to the Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan, arguing that they did it for their constituents to receive help from City Hall. (RHM)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (May 11, 2008 issue)
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