Judge upholds Trajera's post as Bucana chairman

THE Municipal Trial Court in Cities (MTCC) Branch 2 Presiding Judge upheld the position of Rolando Trajera as chief of Barangay 76-A Bucana after the results of the election protest sought by losing reelectionist Robert Olanolan went in favor of the incumbent barangay chief.

MTCC Branch 2 judge Marie Estrelita Tolentino-Rojas, in a 53-page decision dated May 2, said that based on the results of the three recount and revision committees who recounted the 117 ballot boxes contested by the protestant, Trajera garnered a total of 7,084 votes, a 217 lead over Olanolan who only garnered 6,867 votes.

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The recount and revision committees earlier revealed that Trajera already had a lead over Olanolan, 6,966-6,806 based on the uncontested ballots.

But based on the appreciation of contested ballots, Trajera had an additional 118 votes against Olanolan's 61, bringing the total to 7,084 for Trajera and 6,867 for Olanolan.

The first committee led by MTCC Branch 2 clerk of court Juvy Ann Garcia reported that Trajera had 30 additional votes over Olanolan's 15 while the second committee under Jesusa Cabahug said the incumbent barangay chief had 34 additional votes, an eight-vote lead over Olanolan's 26.

The third committee led by Melody Bartolomo also had Trajera leading in the appreciation of contested ballots, 24-20.

“It is unfortunate that there is no available date given to the court as to the total number of votes garnered by the protestee and protestant for the 142 uncontested precincts that were not subjected to a recount. As such, based on the following results, there is a clear showing that the protestee enjoyed a considerable margin of 217 votes over the protestant," Rojas' decision read.

It added that Olanolan had failed to prove the allegations of massive election fraud in the 247 polling precincts he contested, thus, his protest was dismissed while Trajera remains as Barangay 76-A's chief.

Sun.Star Davao tried to contact Olanolan as well as his legal counsel Alexis Lumbatan through their respective mobile phone numbers but to no avail. (RSA)