31 lawmakers face poll protests

MANILA, Philippines - Election protests have been filed against 31 elected incumbent and incoming members of the House of Representatives.         

The protests, filed with the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET), include those lodged against Representatives Diosdado Arroyo of Camarines Sur’s second district and Lani Mercado-Revilla of Cavite.         

Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, a tribunal member, said the outgoing HRET would screen the complaints for compliance with its rules before turning them over to the incoming HRET of the next Congress.         

Arroyo, younger son of detained former President and reelected Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, and Mercado-Revilla have both won reelection.         

Outgoing CamSur Gov. Luis Raymond Villafuerte, whom Arroyo defeated in the second district’s congressional race, is the complainant in the election case against the former president’s son.         

Jessie Castillo, former mayor of Bacoor town, filed the protest against Mercado-Revilla, wife of Sen. Ramon Revilla Jr.         

Sibling rivalry in Agusan del Sur’s second district did not end when Rep. Evelyn Plaza-Mellana beat her brother, former congressman Rodolfo Plaza, by just a few hundred votes. The latter has questioned his sister’s victory before the HRET.         

The tightly contested fight in CamSur’s fourth district, where actor Aga Muhlach lost to former Rep. Wimpy Fuentebella, son of outgoing congressman and Deputy Speaker Arnulfo Fuentebella, has spilled over to the election tribunal.         

Muhlach, who reportedly still has a petition pending with the Commission on Elections for the annulment of Wimpy’s proclamation, filed the protest against his opponent, who won by 2,205 votes.         

The fight between outgoing Rep. Lord Allan Jay Velasco of the lone district of Marinduque and Regina Reyes was another close one. Reyes beat her congressman, prompting the incumbent to file a protest against her.         

Complainant Velasco’s father is Supreme Court Justice Presbitero Velasco, who is HRET’s presiding officer.         

There are two protests in Metro Manila: those filed by outgoing Rep. Mary Mitzi Cajayon of Caloocan’s second district against outgoing vice mayor and Representative-elect Edgar Erice, and Orlando Salatandre Jr. against reelected Pasig City Rep. Roman Romulo.         

In South Cotabato’s first district, Rogelio Pacquiao, brother of Sarangani Rep. Manny Pacquiao, has lodged a protest against reelected Rep. Pedro Acharon Jr.        

The congressional race in three of Quezon’s four districts is being contested. Election protest cases were filed by Pauline Villaseor against Rep. Mark Enverga of the first district, Barbara Talaga versus Vicente Alcala of the second district and Wigberto Tañada Jr. versus Angelina Tan of the fourth district.         

The other cases involve Acmad Omar vs Abdulla Dimaporo of Lanao del Sur’s second district, Angel Rodriguez vs Aileen Radaza of Lapu-Lapu City, Tomas Apacible vs Eileen Ermita-Buhain of Batangas’ first district, Eduardo Matillano vs Douglas Hagedorn of Palawan’s third district, Hans Roger Luna vs Maria Jocelyn Bernos of Abra; Jose Benjamin Benaldo vs Rolando Uy of Cagayan de Oro’s first district, Aurelio Gonzales Jr. vs Oscar Rodriguez of Pampanga’s third district, Carlos Valdez Jr. vs Raden Sakaluran of Sultan Kudarat’s first district, Emilio Bernardino Yulo III vs Alejandro Mirasol of Negros Occidental’s fifth district; Liwayway Vinzons-Chato vs Elmer Panotes of Camarines Norte’s second district, Rolando Yebes vs Rosendo Labadlabad of Zamboanga del Norte’s second district, Froilan Nagao vs Magnolia Rose Antonino-Nadres of Nueva Ecija’s fourth district, Mary Elizabeth Ty-Delgado vs Philip Pichay of Surigao del Sur’s first district;aul Daza vs Harlin Abayon of Northern Samar’s first district, Solomon Chungalao vs Teodoro Baguilat of Ifugao, Faysah Dumarpa vs Ansaruddin Adiong of Lanao del Sur’s first district, Niel Tupas Jr. vs Hernan Biron Jr. of Iloilo’s fourth district, Jerome Paras vs Manuel Iway of Negros Oriental’s first district, Jun Omar Ebdane vs Cheril Deloso-Montalla of Zambales’ second district, and Richard Ziga vs Edcel Lagman Jr. of Albay’s first district.         Besides Velasco, two other Supreme Court justices – Lucas Bersamin and Diosdado Peralta – sit in the nine-member HRET.