SC intervenes in Zambo Norte poll dispute

The Supreme Court has issued a status quo ante order effectively stopping reelectionist Romeo Jalosjos Jr. from assuming the seat of the first district of Zamboanga del Norte in the House of Representatives. The high court issued the resolution on July 12 based on separate petitions filed by Roberto Uy Jr. and Frederico Jalosjos, who were among Romeo’s rivals during last May’s elections. Apart from Romeo, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and provincial election supervisor Verly Tabancura-Adanza were also among the respondents. Uy filed the petition before the Supreme Court after Romeo was declared winner in the recent polls. The certificate of canvass for the first district showed Uy garnering 69,591 votes while Romeo got 69,109, or a very slim winning margin of 482. Frederico got 5,424 votes. But the Provincial Board of Canvassers suspended the proclamation of Uy after receiving a Comelec order declaring Frederico a nuisance candidate. The Comelec also reportedly ordered that Frederico’s votes be credited to Romeo, which led to the latter’s proclamation as the winning candidate. —TINA G. SANTOS

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