Tawi-Tawi lawmaker unseated, rival declared as winner

Tawi-Tawi province got a new congressman on Friday as the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal unseated Anuar Abubakar and belatedly declared his political rival Nur Jaafar winner in the May 2004 elections. In a 28-page decision, HRET likewise annulled the Abubakar’s proclamation by the provincial board of canvassers, as it ruled that his winning margin of 2,040 votes was just a “presumptive lead." “The plurality of votes belongs to Jaafar who garnered 27,257 votes as against Abubakar who obtained 25,705 votes," the tribunal declared, highlighting the 1,552-vote winning margin of Jaafar, who had served three terms as Tawi-Tawi representative from 1992-2001. Tawi-Tawi, comprised of a group of small islands, is the Philippines’ southernmost province and part of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). It has a lone district in the House of Representatives. “Considering that the final count after revision and appreciation of the ballots show that the number of votes for Jaafar had overcome Abubakar’s presumptive lead of 2,040 votes, the tribunal declares Jaafar as the duly elected representative of Tawi-Tawi," the HRET stated. Shortly after the May 2004 polls, the Commission on Elections declared Abubakar the winner based on the 37,720 votes he garnered, which was bigger than the 35,680 votes obtained by Jaafar. Jaafar filed an electoral protest in June 2004. The HRET is headed by Supreme Court Justice Leonardo Quisumbing, with Justices Angelina Gutierrez, Ma. Alicia Martinez, Reps. Douglas Cagas, Salacnib Baterina, Laurence Wacnang, Mauricio Domogan, Romualdo Vicencio and Ruy Elias Lopez as members. -GMANews.TV