Winners in Bohol polls proclaimed

CEBU, Philippines - In some towns in Bohol where the canvassing was completed without the problem of  “corrupted compact flash (CF) cards of the PCOS machines, winners were proclaimed by their respective Board of Canvassers.

In Pilar town, Mayor Necitas Tabaranza Cubrado and the councilors-elect were already proclaimed after Election Day, while the provincial board of canvassers (PBOC) also proclaimed the winners for the top two seats of the province.

Re-electionist Gov. Edgar Chatto won by a landslide, with 330,957 votes, against contender Carmen town Mayor Conchita Toribio de los Reyes who got 130,993, or a difference of 169,964 votes.

The PBOC, headed by Comelec supervisor Leonil Marco Castillano, decided to proclaim Chatto and Provincial Board winners because the still incomplete canvass in the LGUs affected by the defective CF cards would no longer alter the results.

The winning bets for the PB who were also proclaimed were: Jovana Jumamoy, Gerry Garcia and Tomas Abapo, Jr., all of the 2nd district, where its 14 towns have already completed the transmittal of results. Those PB bets in the 1st and 3rd districts, however, where some towns were affected by the “corrupted CFs,” have to wait until the canvassing is completed.

In the capital city, only Councilor John Geesnell “Baba” Yap was proclaimed the new mayor because his margin of votes could no longer be affected by the remaining one barangay where the CF card was defective.

The race for the vice-mayoralty, between LP bet Toto Veloso and Councilor Anne Mariquit Oppus of the NUP, had a difference of a little over 80 votes only. The precinct that still has to be canvassed contained almost a thousand votes.

Some CF cards of the PCOS machines in several towns of Bohol “were corrupted,” causing the inability to transmit election returns in some clustered precincts, said the Comelec the other day.

Those precincts with “corrupted CF cards” were in this capital city and the towns of Balilihan, Baclayon, Calape, Cortes, Carmen, Sevilla and Alicia, said the Comelec, adding that the cards were earlier sent to Manila for replacement, which upon arrival would complete the canvassing and eventual proclamation of winners. (FREEMAN)