Darimbang files poll protest against Uy

By NITZ ARANCON
Correspondent

LOSING congressional candidate Lourdes Darimbang yesterday filed an electoral protest against Rep. Rolando Uy of the city’s 1st District even as she sought a recount.

Councilor Darimbang, Uy’s lone challenger in this month’s elections, brought her case to the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal after she failed to win the support of the city council on Monday. She had moved for the passage of a resolution in support of her protest but the motion was killed because no one seconded it.

Darimbang asked the House tribunal to cause a manual recount of the ballots cast in the 1st District.

In May 12, Uy was proclaimed by the local board of election canvassers as the winner in the congressional race with 57,094 votes over Darimbang’s 51,208. Uy however opted not to show up but sent his lawyer to secure his certificate of proclamation.

Darimbang told a news conference yesterday said many of the vote-counting machines that were used in the city’s 1st District were defective, and because of this, she believed that she was cheated.

“Yours truly would definitely not allowed (sic) cheating, dishonesty,  poll fraud, and cover-up to stop me from doing what is right,” Darimbang told a news conference yesterday. “We, the responsible citizens of Cagayan de Oro, are demanding the agencies concern (sic) to come up and fasttrack the investigation until the true result and the people’s mandate are achieved.”

Darimbang and her spokesperson, losing Padayon Pilipino  candidate for councilor Oscar Musni, showed election documents which they claimed indicate poll fraud.

But neither of the two gave details nor explain exactly how the alleged cheating was made.

Musni said the protest has already been filed and the details would be presented to the House tribunal.

Musni clarified that he was not lawyering for Darimbang but was merely serving as her spokesman.

Darimbang called on the tribunal to speed up the investigation of the alleged electoral cheating in the city.

She said she would name all the people responsible for the alleged electoral fraud in the city.

“This is not a threat  but a promise, a commitment to those who involve (sic)… we will expose you one by one,” she said.

Darimbang said she would present documents and data “in due time” and “prove that these are not merely an allegation (sic), but sad to say, the real truth.”

Rep. Uy, for his part, said it was Darimbang’s right to question the results of the elections before the House tribunal but laughed off claims that his challenger was cheated.

“Dili nato siya mapog-ngan iya kanang katungod,” Uy said.

But Uy said Darimbang’s allegations of cheating were only in the councilor’s imagination.

He said Darimbang lost because of the kind of people she tapped as campaign leaders.

“Iyang huna-huna nga gitikasan siya. Dili, na-a  ra na sa mga lider… kon kinsa ang iyang mga lider,” Uy said.