MANILA, Philippines- The Commission on Elections dismissed the electoral protest case against Manila Mayor Honey Lacuna, and said the allegation of electoral fraud in the 2022 mayoralty race in Manila is “based on purely on suppositions and not on records.”
In the October 6 decision, the Comelec Second Division announced that it dismissed Alexander Lopez’s election protest after it was judged “insufficient in form and content.”
“The alleged documented massive acts of vote buying… are also bare assertions uncorroborated by any other proof, whether testimonial or documentary,” saad sa desisyon.
Lopez questioned Lacuna’s landslide victory in the capital city, and said part of the 538,595 votes obtained in the May 9 polls was due to the “massive presence of electoral frauds, anomalies, and irregularities” in the 1,859 clustered precincts.
Lopez received only 166,908 votes.
“The alleged total number of valid ballots cast for the position of Mayor in the city of Manila do not correspond with the total number of registered voters who actually voted during the May 9, 2022 elections in the said city,” pahayag ng Comelec.
The poll body continues, even adding the alleged 31,608 unaccounted ballots to Lopez, “the same cannot cover the massive” vote margin between him and Lacuna.
Lacuna also appealed the Comelec ruling, thanking the Comelec for “recognized, and ruled accordingly, that these allegations of electoral fraud, irregularities, and anomalies remain just that: allegations that have no actual proof.”
“The reality is that the people of the City of Manila have overwhelmingly expressed and placed their support for the current, duly elected city administration,” giit pa niya. RNT/SA
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