Comelec voids Kalinga winners' proclamation

MANILA, Philippines - The Commission on Elections (Comelec) yesterday issued a resolution, nullifying the proclamation of winning local candidates in the town of Pinukpuk in Kalinga.

In Resolution 8989, the Comelec said the proclamation was based not on the actual election results but on the outcome of the final testing and sealing of the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines done before election day.

The results came from three of the 36 clustered precincts in Pinukpuk, namely: clustered precinct 8, clustered precinct 12 and clustered precint 14.

“When the Consolidation and Canvassing Center of Pinukpuk, Kalinga received 100 percent transmission from all the clustered precincts, the Municipal Board of Canvassers then also transmitted the results to the Provincial Board of Canvassers and to the National Board of Canvassers,” the resolution said.

The watchers of various candidates, however, noticed that wrong results from the three clustered precincts were transmitted so they informed the MBOC about it.

“Upon verification, it was found out that there were discrepancies in the transmitted results of the three clustered precincts.

The error was discovered after the MBOC had already proclaimed the winning candidates,” the Comelec noted.

The Comelec said that after due notice and hearing, concerned Board of Canvassers should proclaim the “rightful winners in the affected positions.”