Cebu City quick count ends with Tomas ahead

CEBU CITY — The C-CIMPEL ended its unofficial quick count in the city the other day, with 86 percent of election returns showing BO-PK’s Tomas Osmeña ahead of re-electionist Mayor Alvin Garcia of Kusug by close to a thousand votes.

But Garcia was slightly ahead of Osmeña in the official but slower-paced canvassing of the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

As of 7 p.m. Sunday, the official Comelec canvass had Garcia leading Osmeña by a mere 379 votes from 520 precincts tabulated. Garcia had 33,713 votes while Osmeña had 33,334.

In the race for vice mayor, however, Osmeña’s running mate, Michael Rama, was ahead with 34,434. Rico Rey Francis Holganza of Kusug had 30,442.

The BOPK promptly demanded a stop to the "dirty tactics" of Kusug which it said would deprive Cebuanos of a clear knowledge of the election results in Cebu City.

The volunteer C-CIMPEL stopped its unofficial count at 1 a.m. Sunday after going over the returns from more than 86 percent of all precincts, with Osmeña leading Garcia by 971 votes.

Osmeña had 114,717 votes while Garcia had 113,746 when the unofficial tabulation stopped.

In the race for vice mayor, BO-PK bet Michael Rama led his rival by 11,887 votes. Rama had 115,850 votes while Rico Rey Francis Holganza of Kusug had 103,963.

Mgsr. Roberto Alesna, C-CIMPEL spokesman, said they had to end their unofficial count as the city election office no longer had the time to furnish them with the remaining election returns due to the mounting work in the official canvassing.

The C-CIMPEL managed to tabulate 86.63 percent of election returns from 1,821 precincts out of the city’s 2,102 precincts before ending its quick-count.

The BO-PK accused Kusug of engaging in "well-dramatized" actions such as "mind-conditioning statements," alleging fraud in the polls and that the board of canvassers was biased in favor of BO-PK.

"Let the voice of the people be heard," the BO-PK said in a statement.

BOPK called the walkout by Kusug lawyers from the canvassing as a zarzuela, especially since the same lawyers walked right back in after the cameras recorded the walkout.

BO-PK said it also refused to believe that the error by the Garcia-owned Sunstar Daily in its May 17 issue in which the votes of Osmeña and Garcia were switched so that Garcia was made to appear as leading, was inadvertent.

Despite the numbers, Garcia insists he is winning the elections. "They are trying to influence and change the perception of the people that I won the election," he said.

Garcia said that if it is Osmeña who wins, a certain "magic" has to be involved.

Garcia also laughed off Osmeña’s allegation that he has conceded and told Kusug’s councilor candidates that he was losing.

"I never met nor called my councilors today. I only told them that I am behind in the C-CIMPEL quick count, but not in the Comelec’s," he said. — Freeman News Service