The lure of Champagne
Diego Palomares, lawyer of the Genuine Opposition’s senatorial ticket, earlier said he has sworn statements from witnesses detailing how the wife of Tan and also the wife of re-electionist Sulu Rep. Munir Arbison cheated in a polling precinct in Luuk, an island town, in favor of the administration’s Team Unity senatorial candidates.
Arbison was proclaimed last week as the winner in the May 14 congressional race in the second district of Sulu.
The provincial office of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in Sulu said Tan’s wife, Hadja Indah, is a registered voter in Jolo, the capital town of the island province, and not in Luuk, an island too far away from the provincial capital.
“Atty. Palomares did not set foot in Luuk on election day. The people of Sulu have spoken through the ballots so let’s respect their votes,” Tan told The STAR via mobile phone.
Members of the Sulu provincial peace and order council said they are convinced that the allegations against the wife of Tan and the wife of Arbison were politically motivated.
Radio stations in Sulu quoted over the weekend lawyer Vidzpar Juli, the election supervisor in the province, as saying that Tan’s overwhelming victory in the May 14 polls was something never before seen in Tausog political history.
Tan defeated re-electionist Gov. Benjamin Loong by almost 50,000 votes in the final tally of the Comelec.
Jailed Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) chairman Nur Misuari, who also aspired for Sulu’s gubernatorial post, ranked only third in the race.
Previous gubernatorial contests in Sulu were decided with very minimal number of votes, some just more than a thousand in Comelec tabulations.
“I will sue Atty. Palomares for issuing statement on television that my wife helped cheat in favor of administration candidates during the May 14 elections in Sulu,” Tan said.
Sulu’s provincial election supervisor earlier denied the insinuations by Palomares.
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