HRET begins collecting 361 ballot boxes for recount

DUMAGUETE CITY, Philippines — A team from the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET) has started collecting this week a total of 361 ballot boxes from the 1st congressional district of Negros Oriental in relation to an electoral protest filed by defeated congressional candidate in the 2013 elections.

The HRET team, headed by a certain Jason Sanchez, got the ballot boxes from Ayungon town and Canlaon City and was proceeding to Vallehermoso as of yesterday afternoon, said Joselito Paras, brother of complainant, former 1st district Rep. Jerome Paras.

The 1st congressional district covers Canlaon City, Guihulngan City and the towns of Manjuyod, Bindoy, Ayungon, Tayasan, Jimalalud, La Libertad and Vallehermoso.

These ballot boxes, containing official ballots and other election documents, will be stored at a building in Dumaguete for storage, as provided for by the provincial government, until these are ready for shipment to Metro Manila, according to Provincial Election Supervisor Eddie Aba.

Jerome Paras filed an electoral protest to the HRET seeking for a manual recount, arguing of alleged discrepancies in the results of the May 13 polls where he lost to now incumbent Rep. Emmanuel Iway by a mere thousand votes.

The only way to determine the credibility of the automated elections was to have a manual recount of the actual ballots cast and counted via the PCOS machines, he said. (FREEMAN)