Losing mayoralty bet wants recount cites 20-vote difference

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines  â€” Defeated mayoralty bet Jilson Tubillara of San Enrique town in Negros Occidental has demanded for a recount of the canvassed votes after losing to incumbent Mayor Mario Magno of the United Negros Alliance (UNEGA) by 20 votes only.

Tubillara of the Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC), a former mayor of the same town, got 6,257 votes against the 6,277 votes of Magno who was eventually proclaimed winner on May 14.

Tubillara said he will file an election protest before the Regional Trial Court in Bago City this week. "I believe that if the (votes) are fully counted, I will win with just one (ballot) box," he said in a media interview.

Represented by counsel Rayfrando Diaz, Tubillara said his camp believed there were 37 rejected ballots in one precinct that could have been counted in his favor, and enough to overturn the final results.  

San Enrique municipal election officer Marcos Cordero said Tubillara was protesting the election returns from 12 of the 19 precincts in the town.

The 19 ballot boxes of San Enrique were placed inside a cage at the town's Pasalubong Center to secure the ballots for a recount of the votes for the position of mayor. Both parties have asked that the ballot boxes be properly secured, Cordero said.

Magno, for his part, said Tubillara has the right to protest. "But he should be gentleman enough to accept defeat. I'm willing to work hand in hand with him. If he really wants to serve the people of San Enrique, he can help us," he added.  (FREEMAN)