3 bets with protest lose in poll rematch

CEBU, Philippines - The results of the elections last Monday were crucial for a lot of areas in Cebu, but three critical races for the mayoralty post were for Madridejos, Compostela and San Fernando which had election protests from the May 2010 elections just resolved while others still pending.

This year, eyes were on the three towns as candidates during the last elections vie for the same spot neck-on-neck. In Madridejos, Salvador de la Fuente was proclaimed mayor in 2010 but his opponent Doroteo Salazar filed an election protest stating that he had more votes than the former.

Less than a week ago, the Regional Trial Court in Bogo City declared Salazar as the winner and immediately took his oath.

However, the results of the election last Monday showed Salazar's victory as short-lived. According to the website of the Commission on Elections, De la Fuente is leading with 9,753 votes while Salazar only got 5,491.

Compostela

As for the town of Compostela, tension has again surrounded the municipality last Tuesday night when more than 200 supporters of One Cebu mayoralty candidate Ritchie Wagas surrounded the municipal hall, hoping to get in the municipal canvassing to protest the lead of Liberal Party candidate Joel Quinio.

In the Comelec website, Quinio had 12,080 votes or 57.85 percent of the actual votes while Wagas had 8,683 or 41.59 percent.

In the 2010 elections, no winners have been proclaimed prompting the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) to designate a caretaker pending the resolution of the election protest filed by Wagas against Quinio.

After several months of waiting, Comelec allowed Quinio and the rest of the winning candidates to assume office while the protest continues.

In March this year, the recounting of ballots showed that Wagas won over Quinio but the former did not anymore assume the post.

San Fernando

The town of San Fernando already witnessed the proclamation of Mayor Abe Canoy last May 14. The Comelec canvass shows Canoy won with 16,187 votes against former mayor Neneth Reluya who had 16,010 votes. Despite a protest still pending for the May 2010 elections, Reluya is again planning to file another protest on the recent results.

Reluya lost to Canoy in the 2010 mayoral race. Her protest remains pending before the court. -- /FPL (FREEMAN)