‘Recount’ sought vs Batangas Rep. Vilma Santos-Recto, ally

SAN PEDRO CITY — Outgoing Lipa City, Batangas mayor Meynard Sabili on Friday said he and wife, Bernadette, would seek a manual recount of the votes cast in the May 13 elections.

The petition came a day after the Commission on Elections (Comelec) proclaimed Lipa lone district Rep. Vilma Santos-Recto, and her ally, former vice mayor Eric Africa, winners.

Meynard challenged Recto in the congressional race but lost by 34,928 votes, while Bernadette lost to Africa in the mayoral race by 1,598 votes.

Meynard, in a phone interview, cited the delay in the canvassing, but as it seemed to be a problem of the vote-counting machines across the country, he pointed out that the defective ones were those delivered to particular villages where the Sabilis claim strong support.

“There were (also reports that) my wife’s and my name did not appear on the voter’s receipts (even when the votes supposedly went to us),” he said.

Meanwhile, Bernadette in a statement on her Facebook account, called for a recount of votes cast on even just three VCMs. “If the results tallied, I would concede,” she said.

“I believe the majority of the Lipeños voted for us and they too couldn’t believe (the results),” she added.

Meynard said they would file a formal petition as soon as they have gathered enough evidence within the ten-day period after the proclamation, as prescribed in the Comelec rules. Maricar Cinco (Editor: Leti Z. Boniol)