Poll protest vs Northern Samar congressman junked

MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET) has junked the electoral protest filed against Northern Samar Rep. Paul Daza.

In a six-page resolution dated Dec. 12, 2019 but released only recently, the nine-member tribunal unanimously dismissed the protest of Daza’s rival Harlin Abayon, saying it was “insufficient in form and substance.”

Abayon accused Daza’s camp of vote-buying and sought to nullify the votes in five of the 14 municipalities in the district.

Daza was declared winner with a total margin of 59,685 votes.

“Even if the tribunal annuls the results in five municipalities, after deducting the protestee’s margin of 36,875 votes from his total margin of 59,685 votes, protestee will still emerge as winner by a margin of 22,810 votes,” the HRET ruling penned by Supreme Court (SC) Justice Andres Reyes Jr. read.

The HRET also noted that Abayon identified witnesses of alleged vote-buying only in two towns.

The tribunal is chaired by SC Justice Marvic Leonen.Justices Reyes and Jose Reyes Jr. as well as Reps. Paulino Salvador Leachon, Vincent Garcia, Lawrence Fortun, Alfredo Garbin, Jr., Resurreccion Acop and Abdullah Dimaporo are members.