Still no winner in Cagayan governor race
Until now, Cagayan folk are still in the dark as to who between re-electionist Gov. Edgar Lara and his rival, Alcala Mayor Alvaro Antonio, will eventually be proclaimed the winner by the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
Both have claimed victory over each other by a slim margin and also accused each other of manipulating the results of the gubernatorial race.
Lara, a true-blue member of the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC), was leading when the provincial canvassing was transferred to
Lara expressed optimism though that in the end he would win by 605 votes over Antonio, the handpicked candidate of the Enriles and who also had the support by other big-time politicos in the province.
Based on the official canvassing of votes from all of Cagayan’s 29 towns, Lara won with 175,336 votes against Antonio’s 174,731.
Antonio ran under the administration’s Lakas-CMD party, which is allied with the local Liberal Party chaired by re-electionist Rep. Manuel Mamba, who is identified with Sen. Franklin Drilon.
The Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), however, said Antonio was leading Lara by some 4,000 votes in the incomplete, unofficial count of the National Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel).
“This did not include Calayan and several other towns which were being questioned,” a source said.
The local Catholic Church has decried what it described as an unseen hand manipulating, for personal interests, the results of the gubernatorial race.
In their recent assembly, Catholic priests in the Archdiocese of Tuguegarao led by Archbishop Diosdado Talamayan appealed to the Comelec to ensure that the true will of the majority of Cagayanons is respected and upheld.
A Church official claimed that PPCRV officials have noted discrepancies in poll results from certain precincts in Tuao town.
These alleged irregularities became the basis of the complaint of Tuguegarao City Mayor Randolph Ting against Mamba and of Lara against Antonio.
The PPCRV alleged that results in several Tuao polling precincts were bloated, with Mamba getting some 24,000 votes against Ting’s 164 votes and all of Mamba’s allies also leading by big margins.
Ting accused Mamba of manipulating the results in the third district of Cagayan, resulting in the congressman’s re-election and Antonio’s chalking up a huge margin against Lara in his hometown of Tuao.
For his part, Antonio alleged that irregularities were committed in Lallo town in favor of the Lara camp, which caused the provincial canvassing to be transferred to
A Catholic priest actively involved in the PPCRV who requested for anonymity claimed that Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile was one of several personalities in the province allegedly trying to exert their influence on the gubernatorial election.
“There are allegations that Sen. Enrile is throwing his weight around for Antonio to be proclaimed the winner, that is why they transferred the canvassing to
“The Enriles are definitely out to maintain their domination of the province which they can only do so by getting Lara out of the picture,” said a re-elected town mayor who also sought anonymity.
The senator’s daughter-in-law, Salvacion Enrile, wife of outgoing first district Rep. Jack Enrile, won her bid.
But almost all Enrile-backed mayors lost to their Lara-backed rivals, including the senator’s half-sister who ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Aparri town.
Not all views though are negative about the Enriles. Archimedes Ancheta of the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA) in
Mamba, who had been proclaimed re-elected congressman of the third district despite his rival’s protest, defended Enrile, saying he could not do such a thing.
“If he really meddled in the last elections, would he allow majority of his mayors to lose? Would he allow his sister to lose in Aparri? Would he allow me, an Enrile-supported candidate for congressman, nearly to lose in my district?” he said.
He claimed it was Lara himself who was building an empire in the province.
Mamba said Enrile was just alarmed over the alleged corruption committed by the Lara administration that he decided to throw his all-out support behind Antonio.
“Enrile wants to get rid of the corruption committed by the provincial government, that is why he was all-out in campaigning for Lara’s ouster from the Capitol,” he said.
For instance, Mamba claimed that a mall was built in this capital city at a cost of P250 million when “it would only cost a maximum of P70 million.”
Lara, however, denied the allegation. “Let them all come to Tuguegarao City and see the mall we have put up to judge for themselves,” he said.
Lara also denied having any capacity to manipulate the provincial elections, saying he was the “underdog.”
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