Lito Ruiz asks Comelec to nullify Radaza proclamation

CEBU, Philippines - Defeated Lapu-Lapu City congressional candidate Joselito "Lito" Ruiz filed a protest in the Commission on Election-Manila asking the poll body to nullify the proclamation of congressman-elect Arturo Radaza and the entire winning slate of Deretso 3, an affiliate of the Lakas-Kampi-CMD, for poll fraud, among other reasons.

Ruiz, who lost the congressional race against Mayor Radaza, claimed the results in the last automated May 10 polls were marred by massive fraud, vote-buying, and disenfranchisement.

"The extent of acts of fraud, disenfranchisement and vote-buying perpetrated by respondent (Mayor Radaza) and his staff and supporters was so extensive, systematic, and carefully planned and executed that the acts taken in their totality made a mockery of the May 10, 2010 election in the city," Ruiz said in his 8-page petition.

Radaza was proclaimed the first lone congressman in Lapu-Lapu City for receiving 70,125 while Ruiz got 33,100 votes.

Radaza’s wife, Paz, also won mayoralty race in the city, replacing Arturo, who is on his third and last term.

The entire 12-man slate for councilor, and the vice mayor, under the Deretso 3 banner won in the election.

Ruiz said the election returns correspondingly reflected the "sham election." 

Furthermore, Ruiz cited discriminatory issuance of priority numbers, which "huge numbers" of his supporters failed to vote.

He also said that many, if not all, voting centers in the city were reportedly managed by barangay officials that were identified with the Radazas.

"They issued low number of priority numbers to their supporters, who were all guaranteed to cast their votes and under conditions which were far more convenient than those endured by ordinary voters and non-supporters," Ruiz said, citing that it violated the Omnibus election code that bars certain individuals within the specified radius of the voting centers.

Among the complaints Ruiz attached was the unique “codigo” scheme, which was used as vote-buying.

Ruiz alleged that the so-called "sample ballot" bears the signature of their supporters after they voted in the precinct and then they were paid after voting.

The sample ballot bore the names of the candidates for the local and national positions with pre-cut holes, which will direct the voters on what circles to shade in the ballot.

Radaza's camp shrugged off allegations that the camp cheated in the last elections.

In a separate interview, Lapu-Lapu City Comelec officer Ferdinand Gujilde said his department has no jurisdiction over the petition filed by Ruiz since this will be handled by the Comelec-legal department. - THE FREEMAN