The House of
Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET) has upheld the victory of Catanduanes
Rep. Cesar Sarmiento
in the May 2010 congressional elections after dismissing the electoral protest
filed by his rival, Araceli
Wong.
A former
vice governor, Sarmiento won by a slim margin of 713 votes over Wong (50,439
votes against 49,726) and by overwhelming margins over the two others, after
more than 120,000 votes in the province were tabulated.
In a
decision in HRET Case No. 10-028 dated last Feb. 8, the nine-man HRET chaired
by Supreme Court Associate Justice Presbitero Velasco Jr. ruled that Wong
failed to substantiate her allegations that she was deprived of victory mainly
due to defects in the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines and by
"lateral acts" of alleged vote-buying and voters' intimidation by
Sarmiento's camp.
He hailed
the HRET decision as "a timely reaffirmation of the integrity of the
automated voting," which was first adopted nationwide in the May 2010
polls.
The HRET
also said no witness was ever presented to back up Wong's allegations.
However,
the HRET recount of the contested 25 percent of the total votes questioned by
Wong, had shown the lawmaker increasing his overall lead by 24 votes to 737.
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