HRET upholds Lani’s win

MANILA, Philippines - The House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET) has upheld the victory of Rep. Lani Mercado-Revilla in the 2013 congressional race in the second district of Cavite.

The HRET, presided by Supreme Court Associate Justice Presbitero Velasco, ruled in a 17-page resolution that the 108,399 votes of Mercado-Revilla against the 40,192 votes of her rival, Jessie Castillo, were won clearly and without any anomaly.

A statement from the lawmaker’s office said the tribunal dismissed the allegation of Castillo, a former mayor of Bacoor, that she cheated during the elections.

“The former Bacoor mayor could not accept his defeat that was by a large margin against Mercado-Revilla that he accused the latter of massive vote buying,” the statement said.

Castillo alleged that within the 45-day campaign period, voters were brought to a resort in Kawit town and to other places in Bacoor where they were given P200 to P500 in exchange of their votes in favor of the lawmaker.

Castillo also attributed his loss to Mercado-Revilla’s move to send National Bureau of Investigation agents to different parts of Bacoor, which he alleged was part of her tactic to gain more votes.

All the allegations though were disputed by the HRET by affirming that Mercado-Revilla “won the seat without any anomaly,” the statement from her office said.