CEBU, Philippines - The camps of Poblacion Pardo barangay captain Danilo Lim and newly-proclaimed winner Fermin Dasmariñas will be filing separate appeals today.
Lim will be filing a motion for reconsideration after his first appeal questioning the court decision declaring Dasmariñas as the winner was denied by the Commission of Elections due to some technicalities.
On the other hand, Dasmariñas will be filing a motion for execution tomorrow before the office of judge Anatalio Necessario to allow him to formally assume the post as barangay captain.
According to Lim, he was surprised when he received the decision of the Comelec because it denied his appeal based on technicality and not on merit.
“Failure to submit ang reason mao we will be filing an urgent motion for reconsideration para ang merit mao’y tan-awon ug dili ang technicalities,” Lim said.
For his part, Dasmariñas said they will be waiting for the decision of the court on his motion before they decide on their next move.
Despite the controversy, Dasmariñas said he is hoping that his professional relationship with Lim will not be affected considering that he started his political career with Lim.
Lim said that if the outcome of his appeal will favor Dasmariñas, he would be happy to help him in his projects and activities in the barangay. But as of now, Lim said that he is still not giving up the fight.
“Wala pa mahuman ang duwa,” he added.
Lim was declared winner a day after the barangay elections on October 30, 2007 garnering 2,910 votes against Dasmariñas’ 2,858, or just a margin of 52 votes.
But Dasmariñas filed an election protest, citing “various election anomalies, irregularities and fraud” and “rampant violation of election laws, rules and regulations” that were allegedly committed during the elections.
After a recount was made, Municipal Trial Court in the Cities judge Monalila Tecson declared Dasmariñas as the real winner with a margin of 134 votes.
Lim filed an appeal saying there was no cheating during the elections and that he was the rightful winner. But last Friday, the Comelec issued a decision denying his appeal due to a technicality. — AJ dela Torre/WAB (THE FREEMAN)