Comelec upholds win of Oriental Mindoro governor

CALAPAN CITY, Philippines – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has upheld the victory of Oriental Mindoro Gov. Alfonso Umali Jr., as it dismissed the electoral protest filed by former governor Arnan Panaligan against him due to a technicality.

In a one-page decision issued last Aug. 17 but was made known here only the other day, the Comelec said Panaligan’s legal counsel failed to follow the basic legal procedures in the case.

The former governor’s counsel, according to the poll body, “failed to indicate the number and date of issue of his Mandatory Continuing Legal Education Certificate of Compliance or Exemption in the initiatory pleading or petition for election protest.”

This means that Panaligan’s lawyer has caused the case to be written off.

Umali, a three-term Oriental Mindoro congressman, won over Panaligan, who was seeking his second term as governor in the last May 10 polls, by only more than 200 votes, said to be the “slimmest” margin in the province’s gubernatorial race history.