Isabela Gov. Grace Padaca unseated by Comelec |  | |
| Dec. 08 2009 - 05:31 pm View comments (0) |   | |
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Isabela Governor Grace Padaca lost the election protest filed by rival gubenatorial contender Benjamin Dy.
This after the Comelec second division issued a ruling on the election protest and recount. In the original election result, Padaca won by 17,007 votes. In the new recount and in the revision of votes of the Comelec second division, Dy came out leading by 1,051 votes.
According to GMA NEWS dot TV:
Comelec Commissioner Nicodemo Ferrer, who presides the Second Division, said that what happened in Isabela in 2007 doesn't necessarily constitute cheating. He said the poll body just "appreciated" several protested ballots.
With the final appreciation of the ballots, the poll body said that the true tally of votes should be 199,435 for Dy and 198,384 for Padaca, or a winning margin of 1,051 in favor of the former.
Padaca rose to power in the 2007 elections, ending the three-decade reign of the Dy family in the province. Her victory was widely held and touted as a triumph of non-traditional politics.
Padaca may file a Motion for Reconsideration while Dy's camp may ask the Comelec to issue a writ of execution to force Padaca to step down.
In GMANEWS dot TV, Dy seemed to be crowing about his belated victory:
"This is a victory not only for my family but also for the people of Isabela who have been clamoring for real change and the fight for clean and honest elections," said Dy, who had accused Padaca of committing "glaring violations" in the last elections.
"Thousands of ballots with the same hand writings in favor of my political opponent in several contested precincts were also presented that deprived my candidacy of the needed votes to win the 2007 elections," added Dy, who was at the Comelec main office in Manila to witness the promulgation.
All in all, this is just one of the many election protest cases that was resolved on the eve of an election year.
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