Biaño, Jonas’ rival, to seek a recount

CEBU, Philippines - Former city councilor Victor Biaño who ran against Mayor Jonas Cortes in the mayoralty race in the May 13 midterm elections cannot accept his defeat and is contemplating filing a petition with the Commission on Elections for a recount of ballots.

Biaño said he will file a petition before May 24, ten days after the proclamation of Cortes.

Biaño said he was surprised to see that almost all of the results coming from the 205 clustered precincts in the city (PCOS) showed that the votes for him numbered only 170 to 179 votes, while Cortes got more than 500 votes from each precinct.

Cortes and his slate was proclaimed last Tuesday afternoon at the  Mandaue City Sports Complex .

“I could not prevent his proclamation. There’s no ground for a pre-proclamation protest. Mao mu-file ko og protest for a recount,” he said.

When Cortes was proclaimed, Biaño saidhis supporters cried and went home.

Biaño said he himself could not accept the result and accused the proclaimed mayor of not playing fair.

However, Biaño said he won’t concede because for him Cortes doesn’t have the mandate of the people since he is hated by most vendors, tricycle drivers, and the urban poor in the city.

Biaño said he will continue with his fight for a clean government. (FREEMAN)