Mike Defensor files poll protest vs QC mayor-elect Bautista

Former Quezon City Rep. Michael "Mike" Defensor on Friday asked the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to annul the proclamation QC mayor-elect Herbert Bautista, citing supposed anomalies in the May automated polls. In a 19-page petition, Defensor, a People’s Reform Party bet, claimed that irregularities took place during polls in all 1,281 clustered precincts in Quezon City on Election Day, allowing Bautista (Liberal Party) to win the mayoral race. Bautista snagged the mayoral spot with 500,563 votes while Defensor received 126,847 votes. Trailing the two were other bets Mary Ann Susano (68,339 votes), Ismael Mathay (22,224 votes), Antonio Enrile Inton (14,225 votes), John Charles Chang (3,840), Henry Samonte (947 votes), Engracio Icasiano (867 votes), and Roberto Sombillo (586 votes). "The results in the protested precincts are not reflective of the actual votes cast therein due to frauds, anomalies and/or irregularities in the protested precincts," said Defensor in his petition. He said that if the votes cast in the clustered precincts were "correctly" cast, counted, and canvassed, he would have won the mayoral seat. Anomalies? He said that there is a "serious discrepancy" in the city canvass report issued by the City Board of Canvassers. The report indicated that there were 749,777 ballots and voters who actually voted for the position of mayor and vice-mayor but there were only 760,531 ballots recorded for all the congressional districts combined. "There appears to be unaccounted or missing number of ballots and voters in the members of the House of Representatives compared to that of the ballots and voters for mayor," he said. He also cited the supposed absence of ultraviolet lamps in the precincts and digital signatures in the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines. "Certain protocols and security features were not followed in the conduct of the elections, which rendered the result "highly suspicious,"" he said. An "unjustified disenfranchisement" of several voters also took place, leading him to question claims of "extremely high voter turnout" in Quezon City. A total of 769,777 voters (71.28 percent) out of the 1,079,804 registered voters cast their vote on Election Day in the city. "It would be impossible to have a 70 percent voter turnout considering that on the day of election several voters fell out of line due to extreme weather condition made worse by heavy queuing that is not moving," he said. Wide-scale vote-buying in Quezon City also occurred on election day, Defensor said. Crystal clear Aldrin Cuña, Bautista's chief of staff, welcomed Defensor's filing of the electoral complaint, saying it was the latter's right to do so. "It's his right to complain. If he feels something went wrong with the elections, that's his problem," he said, adding that it was Defensor's camp which has the burden to prove the allegations. He said the mayor-elect's legal team is already studying the complaint, adding that a reply would be submitted soon should the Comelec require it. "In the Philippines, anyone who loses always cries foul. There are no winners in our elections," he said. Bautista's camp maintained that the recently-concluded local elections in Quezon City had not been riddled with irregularities, as claimed by Defensor. "It's already automated elections. How can you tinker with the system?" Cuña said. He said Bautista's almost 400,000 vote-lead over his closest rival was a "crystal clear" proof that there was no cheating. "I knew there was something brewing but we did not expect this will happen," he admitted. - with Mark Merueñas/LBG, RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV