Canvassing at the Bogo municipal hall was stopped yesterday afternoon after the Commission on Elections approved a request for the transfer of the venue for the canvassing.
Comelec regional director Ray Rene Buac approved the request of Bogo election officer Jose Menguez to transfer the venue of the canvassing to the provincial Capitol to diffuse tension between the supporters of the administration and the opposition camps.
It took almost 6 hours to transfer the ballot boxes from the town to the Capitol Session Hall. Bogo is 100 kilometers away from Cebu City where the Capitol is located.
Benhur Salimbangon, who is challenging incumbent mayor Celestino “Tining” Martinez III for the 4th district’s congressional seat, asked the Comelec at about 3 a.m. yesterday to transfer the canvassing to the Bogo Sports Complex or another venue but the Martinez camp objected. The Martinezes however, agreed to the transfer of the canvassing at about 8:30 in the morning.
Salimbangon alleged that the Martinez camp agreed to the transfer of the venue for canvassing because ballot switching already took place.
“Ang Bogo maoy crucial jud kaayo mao nang kinahanglan jud bantayan,” he said.
Some 2,000 supporters of Salimbangon converged outside the municipal hall before the transfer of the canvassing was approved. The supporters, who were wearing red t-shirts, chanted “Benhur daog na, Martinez i-release na.” Salimbangon’s supporters also had streamers which had wordings saying there is a failure of elections in Bogo because of massive cheating.
Salimbangon, who was with his supporters during the rally, urged the people to be vigilant to stop possible attempts at cheating. He admitted that although he enjoys a comfortable lead based on counts from other towns in the fourth district, he will lose in Bogo, the bailiwick of the Martinezes.
The Martinezes witnessed the loading of the ballot boxes from the town to waiting vehicles. Celestino “Junnie” Martinez Jr. refused to be interviewed by The Freeman saying the newspaper is biased against him.
Rep. Clavel Asas-Martinez, who is running for vice governor, however, said that she does not care about Salimbangon’s rally because most of his supporters were not from the town anyway.
She also denied allegations that ballot switching took place in the town saying supporters from both camps were present during the canvassing. She said the family gave in to the request to transfer the canvassing diffuse tension among supporters. — Garry B. Lao/QSB