Osmeña claims 8 Senate seats ‘sold’ at P50 million each in 2016 polls
MANILA, Philippines — Senatorial bet Sergio “Serge” Osmeña III alleged on Friday that eight Senate seats were sold at P50 million each during the 2016 national elections.
“Cheating. The goddamned Comelec [Commission on Elections] cheated me,” Osmeña said when asked about a major problem in 2016 over an interview with ANC’s Early Edition.
When asked whether it was Smartmatic or Comelec who allegedly made the cheating, Osmeña answered: “Both of them. Because they had to do that to get the numbers correctly. And they cheated me.”
Osmeña said he was ranking well before the polls, but was allegedly cheated when Senate seats were sold at P50 million each.
“They did not cheat me itself. They cheated so I went down. So I went down to number 11 from number six. But that was because they sold eight seats at P50 million each,” he said.
“So they sold these eight seats and they added six and a half percent to those eight seats. Exactly six and a half or 7,” he explained.
Osmeña ranked 14th in the 2016 senatorial elections, behind former presidential political adviser and now administration Senate bet Francis Tolentino.
“That’s why I spotted it right away because of the survey of May 3rd 2016 and the elections were May 9th. It was exactly six and half percent, they added to those 8 people. And those 8 people went up,” he said.
“Then second round got me. The second round of cheating. Because they added two and a half percent to [Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph] Recto and two and a half percent to Senator Leila de Lima and deducted two and a half percent from me. And that was also obvious,” he added.
However, Osmeña admits he does not have evidence to support his claims: “I have evidence based on the final results. I have no evidence on how they did it because it’s all done by computer.”
Should he clinch a Senate seat in the coming May midterm polls, Osmeña said he would launch a Senate probe on the supposed cheating in the 2016 elections. As of this posting, INQUIRER.net is trying to get the Comelec’s side on the issue./muf
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