ANAD malaumon may representante sa Kamara
Tubod Municipal Mayor Guillermo Romarate Jr. appealed to his political rival, incumbent Surigao
As of Friday’s canvassing, Romarate was leading by 5,585 votes, getting 62,317 of the total votes canvassed so far. Barbers trailed with 56,459 votes. Former interior undersecretary Wencelito Andanar is the third contender for the congressional seat.
The position was held by Lyndon’s brother Ace, who ran for governor of the province. Ace, who is winning by a wide margin, is yet to be proclaimed because canvassing in the remaining 13 precincts in the
In the press conference called by Romarate yesterday, he claimed Barbers’ petition to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to stop canvassing was the “desperate move” of a losing candidate.
“Clearly, I am leading. His allegations that armed men are terrorizing three barangays in Tubod, my hometown, prompting the Comelec en banc to issue an order for suspension of canvassing, shows he is not willing to accept defeat,” Romarate told local newsmen.
In his petition to the Comelec dated May 18, Barbers prayed for the declaration of failure of elections in the three barangays of Mainit, Surigao del Norte and Romarate’s disqualification with all votes cast in Romarate’s favor be annulled and not counted due to the alleged presence of armed men terrorizing voters.
It also called for the suspension of canvassing by the Surigao del Norte Provincial Board of Canvassers until further notice and action on the instant petition for a hearing.
Romarate denied the presence of armed men in Tubod town, saying it is natural that he would win there with 6,204 votes over Barbers’ measly 427 votes because he had the hometown advantage.
The STAR tried to reach the Barbers’ camp to get their side but all attempts through mobile phone and landline calls failed.
Except for Mainit town, all winning elective municipal officials of the 19 towns of Surigao del Norte were already proclaimed by their respective municipal Comelec officers and members of the canvassing board.
Josons slipping
The Joson’s hold on the province of Nueva Ecija appears to be slipping as three out of six members of their clan failed to make it in the May 14 elections.
Vice Gov. Mariano Cristino Joson lost to Rep. Aurelio Umali in the gubernatorial race.
Umali was officially proclaimed Sunday as governor-elect of Nueva Ecija, heralding a new era in local politics in the Joson-dominated political landscape.
Lawyer Emmanuel Ignacio, provincial election supervisor of the Comelec, raised the hands of Umali after the final tally was canvassed at the jampacked and heavily secured old provincial capitol in the heart of Cabanatuan City.
His wife, Czarina, took over his congressional seat.
Umali said that while the smoke of battle in the elections has subsided, the real war has just started. “We have now won the battle. But the war has just begun—the war against poverty, economic stagnation and political persecution. Malaya na ang Nueva Ecija (Nueva Ecija is now free),” he told The STAR.
He said his triumph is also a victory of Novo Ecijanos against the blatant lies being peddled against him. He cited the bias of broadcasters and commentators of the provincial government-owned radio dwNE which announced that the Josons were winning.
Based on the final official tally of the Comelec, Umali of the Lakas-CMD garnered 434,445 votes while outgoing Vice Gov. Mariano Cristino Joson of the Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino-Bagong Lakas ng Nueva Ecija (Kampi-Balane) got 314,335 votes.
In the vice gubernatorial race, however, Joson’s nephew and running mate, Senior Board Member Edward Thomas Joson, obtained 392,031 votes to Joe Taruc V’s 327,015 or an edge of 65,016 votes.
Two other Josons won their respective battles: come-backing former governor Eduardo Nonato who defeated former presidential assistant and two-term congressman Renato Diaz in the first district congressional race and re-electionist Quezon Mayor Eduardo Basilio who beat rival Dennis Alejandro.
Those who lost were outgoing three-term Gov. Tomas Joson III and come-backing former vice governor Eduardo IV. Joson III and Joson IV lost in the mayoralty and the congressional race in the third district, respectively.
Umali’s victory was believed to have been triggered by the strong anti-Joson sentiments in the province and the support of controversial former Manila congressman Mark Jimenez.
It was Umali’s second election victory over a Joson. In 2001 he won over Edward Thomas in the congressional race. — Ben Serrano, Manny Galvez
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