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IilEDIIESDAV luly 17, 2o1e

Exi/P Binay seeks to void Pena's win

DEFEATED congressional bet and
former vice president Jejomar Binay
has filed an electoral protest against
Makati First Di5trict Rep. Romulo Peia
Jr. before the House of Representatives
Electoral Tribunal (HRET).
In the 70'page electoral protest,
Binay's lawyers sought to nullifr the the race was "mtnedbymrious mar.ri-
proclamation of Peia as a House festations of fraird, anomalies, inegu-
member by the Makati City Board of laritiesand statistical improbabi lities. "
Canvassers on May 14. Pena got /1,{JJ5 votes agallxit tJlnays
They asked the tribirnal to conduct 65,229, or a prcsumpti!€ margin of 5,806
a manual ballot recount in each ofthe rotes, according to the Certificate of Can-
235 clustered precincts of the city, as \,"ss ofvotes. blft:idA8

;VOID FROM A1 P2,000 in exchange for votes fa,

voring him.

Ex-VP Binay "This election prolest is not

Binay's camp claimed that
around 9,050 votes were disen-
franchised to be null/misread
votes, while votes intended for
Binay had been unaccounted
for, with some vote counting
machines (VCMs) unable to
transmit election results.
There were also alleled cases.
of ballots rejected by the VCMs,
voter's receipts not reflecting
actual votes and the Electoral
Boards'failure to replace official
ballots rejected by the VCMs, iir
violation of contingency mea-
sures issued by the Commission
on Elections (Comelec).
"The votes in contest are, there-
fore, critically determinative of
Makati's true member of the
House of Representatives for its
First District. As it is; the procla-
mation ofRomulo V Pefla h was
based on figures plagued by mys-
'teries;" Binay's camp said,
Aside from alleged irregular-
ities in the scanning of ballots
and transmission of results, the
protesl cited cases ofPeila's camp
€ngaging. in vote-buying through
amounts ranging from P500 to
.-l
t\
fiacrJt PAert"
filed out of spite. lt is a challenge
to uncover the true will of rie
people, the voters ofMakati City,'
Binay said.
The defeated congressional bet,
who 4ttributed his 3o years of
public servica 24 years of which
were fiom his mayoralty in Makati
City, clarified that the protest was
not "a balm to soothe the ache of
an election loss."
"It is for the righr ofthe people
ofMakati City to be served by rhe
person they rightfully voted for
.What transpired was an act of
travesty, " Binay added.
Responding to the allega
tions, Peia refused to comment
on the mattet but said he re-
spect€d the petition filed by the
former vice president.
"We r€spect W JBinay'sl right to
file an electoral prqtest. Our legal
team shall.wait for the copy ofthe
electoral protest and answer his
allegations in the proper forum,"
Pefla told The Manila Times in a
text message.
Binay also Iost to then-Davao
City mayor Rodrigo Dutene in the
race for the presidency in 2016.
GLEE JALEA