All but one winning candidates proclaimed
The provincial canvassing board of Antique has failed to proclaim all but one of the winning candidates in the province because of continued pre-proclamation protests.
The PBC has proclaimed reelectionist Rep. Exequiel Javier (Lakas CMD) who won by a margin of nearly 20,000 votes to his closest rival Robert Delfin (PDSP).
It, however, postponed the proclamation of winning candidates for governor, vice governor and members of the provincial board.
Former assemblyman Arturo Pacificador on Friday filed a pre-proclamation protest before the Commission on Elections office in Manila to stop the proclamation of reelectionist Gov. Salvacion Zaldivar-Perez.
Based on election returns from the province's 18 municipalities, Perez has topped the gubernatorial race with 68,867 votes against Pacificador who got 55,502 votes and Jovito Plameras who garnered 54,062 votes.
Lawyer Gil Barcenal, provincial election supervisor, said they could only proclaim Javier because of the pending protest of Pacificador and the one of the candidates for provincial board member.
He said that under election rules, they have the proclaim all local candidates unless they have authorization from the Comelec.
Pacificador has asked the Comelec to suspend the canvassing of votes for governor and to hold the proclamation until pending disqualification cases against Perez and Plameras are resolved.
Pacificador and Plameras have jointly filed the disqualification case against Perez for violations of the Omnibus Election Code after she handed out checks as financial assistance to barangays in Sibalom on April 10 allegedly in violation of the ban on public spending during the election period.
Perez in turn filed the disqualification case against Plameras for violating Batasang Pambansa 52 (An Act Governing the Election of Local Government Officials) which forbids retired election local officials who have received retirement benefits to be elected to the same office from which the official has retired.
Barcenal said they will issue a ruling on the pending motions and issues today during a meeting of the PBC.