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Thursday, June 03, 2004
Comelec proclaims Biazon as 12th senator
MANILA -- Reelectionist Sen. Rodolfo Biazon on Wednesday was proclaimed as the winner of the 12th and last slot in the senatorial race, after garnering over 10,000 more votes than his closest rival Sen. Robert Barbers.
The Commission on Elections (Comelec), sitting as the national board of canvassers, proclaimed Biazon after canvassing the remaining votes from Cotabato City.
Based on the certificates of canvass from Cotabato City, Biazon garnered 13,836 votes from that city while Barbers got 9,614. Overall, Biazon garnered a total of 10,635,270 votes as against Barbers's 10,624,585.
Results of the canvassing of votes from Lanao del Sur considerably narrowed Biazon's lead over Barbers, who garnered 34,711 votes or 33,000 more than Biazon's 1,428 based on the certificates of canvass from areas in the province.
Biazon and Barbers are seeking reelection and are both with the administration party.
But although he won the last slot in the Senate race, Biazon said he would still file cases against the board of canvassers in Cotabato City and Lanao del Sur for alleged election fraud.
Biazon, through his lawyer, had moved to set aside the certificates of canvass from Lanao after noting irregularities in them. He questioned why the votes were listed as coming from 10 areas when there were only supposed to be seven. The motion was rejected and the canvassing proceeded.
Nevertheless, Biazon said he was elated that he managed to land the last slot in the Senate race. He said during his proclamation Barbers was also "highly qualified" for the post.
The proclamation of the winner of the 12th Senate slot has been delayed because of the close fight between Barbers and Biazon. Comelec had to wait for the remaining certificates of canvass from Cotabato City and Lanao del Sur to be able to determine who between Barbers and Biazon won.
Despite his victory, Biazon told reporters he could not allow the electoral process to be destroyed by fraud and massive cheating.
"Without blaming anyone I'm going to continue to accumulate or consolidate evidence because I will run after the board of canvassers of the towns and provinces, we cannot allow them to continue to a make mockery of this fundamental democratic exercise in our country," Biazon said.
According to Biazon, there were reports that the boards of canvassers in Cotabato City and Lanao del Sur were allegedly padding votes in favor of certain candidates. He showed the media some evidence of discrepancy in the COCs.
The senator showed a COC of one town in Lanao del Sur where only 12 senators got the same number of votes, 4,700, while he and the other candidates mostly from the Koalisyon ng Katapatan at Karanasan para sa Kinabuksan (K-4) got zero votes.
"Dapat ito ang ipaliwanag ng mga miyembro ng municipal board of canvassers, at siguro may pananagutan din dito ang provincial board of canvassers dahil lumusot sa kanila ito. Isa lang ito sa mga dapat hindi palampasin," Biazon added. (The members of the municipal board of canvassers have to explain this and the provincial board of canvassers is equally liable since this passes through them.)
He then urged the Comelec to conduct an investigation on this matter and start cleansing the election process.
On the other hand, Biazon has called on his colleagues in the 13th Congress to prioritize election modernization to avoid massive cheating and tension in the future elections.
Meanwhile, he apologized to Barbers for being aggressive while the canvassing is still ongoing.
According to him, he just wanted to protect the votes and choice of the people.
However, reelectionist Senator Robert Barbers said he is not accepting defeat at least for now, despite the Comelec's proclamation of Biazon as the 12th elected senator.
In a television interview, Barbers said he is not yet ready to accept defeat because his legal counsels are doing some investigation to determine if election fraud was perpetuated in the recently concluded elections.
However, he said, if they found nothing, he would congratulate Biazon.
"I'm just waiting for the reply of my lawyers. If I do not see any electoral fraud, I would accept my defeat with all my heart," Barbers said.
On the other hand, the outgoing senator has warned that if there are discrepancies in the certificates of canvass, his camp would act within the legal bound of the law.
The two senators, who are under the K-4 party, were neck-and-neck in this year's senatorial race.
But after canvassing the last COCs from Cotabato City and Lanao del Sur, Biazon emerged as the winner by at least 10,000 votes.
In Malacaņang, Presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye said seven out of the 12 slots in the Senate is the best that K-4 can do.
Bunye made the statement as Malacaņang congratulated Biazon for getting the 12th seat in the Senate, besting Barbers.
"All the candidates of the K4 fought hard and fought well. We would have wanted to have more candidates included in the top 12 but we really did our best. So congratulations to Senator Biazon," Bunye said.
He would join fellow K-4 senators-elect Manuel Roxas II, Bong Revilla, Richard Gordon, Pia Cayetano, Miriam Defensor-Santiago and Lito Lapid and Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino (KNP) senators-elect Aquilino Pimentel Jr., Jamby Madrigal, Alfredo Lim, Juan Ponce Enrile and Jinggoy Estrada.
Michael Defensor, presidential campaign spokesman, said Barbers is likely to remain visible as he could give input or be consulted in some of the administration policies and projects.
Asked if Barbers would join the administration cabinet he said "Maari." (It's possible.)
"Marami siyang pwedeng maitulong sa administration at naniniwala naman ako na may pagkakataon at may lugar para sa isang senator Barbers sa mga darating na panahon," Defensor said. (He has a lot to contribute and I believe that there is a place for Senator Barbers in the administration.)
Under the law, a defeated candidate could only be appointed by the President to a certain position a year after the election when he ran for public office. (JMR/JPM)
(June 3, 2004 issue)
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