Comelec delivers knock-out win for Centena
Five Commissioners and the Chairman of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) now upheld an earlier ruling declaring a defeated Iloilo town vice mayor as the real winner.
As such, the Resolution made En Banc, orders the assumption into office of Alex Centena as the rightful vice mayor of Calinog, Iloilo and not the current official, Salvador Divinagracia Jr.
Yet with the demise of Mayor Teodoro Lao and the succession into higher post by Divinagracia Jr., Centena with the latest Comelec En Banc ruling will serve anew as Calinog mayor.
Docketed as EAC No. A-10-2008 and EAC No. A-11-2008, the 50-paged Resolution was promulgated January 26th and made public yesterday.
Comelec Chairman Jose Melo was joined by Commissioners Armando Velasco, Leonardo Leonida, Lucenito Tagle, Nicodemo Ferrer and Rene Sarmiento in the Resolution reached on Centena’s case.
In the center of this electoral protest were ballots in ten precincts of said town proven by Centena’s camp as “marked,” thus invalid.
The Commission in resolving the matter came up with the final rightful count – Divinagracia Jr. with 8,119 votes and Centena with 8,130.
Divinagracia Jr. lost 23 votes then counted in his favor and now declared as “marked/invalid.”
These ballots mostly had repeated names of “Ruby” and “Metchie.”
Centena who has since turned into farming welcomed the good news saying he will await proper implementation of the Order. He has also taken extra caution on his security following death threats received lately.