Comelec junks poll protest against Pampanga governor

Pampanga map

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga — For lack of form and content, the Second Division of the Commission on Elections (C0melec) dismissed the election protest filed by the lone rival of Gov. Dennis Pineda in the May 9 polls.

In a copy of the Comelec order released by the governor’s office on Monday, the division ruled that the protest of businessman Danilo Baylon was “insufficient in form and content as required in Section 7 (g), Rule 6 in relation to Section 9 (b), Rule 6 of COMELEC Resolution No. 8804, as amended.”

Second Division Presiding Commissioner Marlon Casquejo and Commissioner Rey Bulay signed the 10-page order dated July 15. A copy of the order was received here on August 4.

Commenting on the allegation of “massive vote-buying,” the division said the “non-specification of the material facts such as names of the persons involved, the time of occurrence and the precincts where the allegations transpired renders these averments blatantly unjustified and groundless.”

A part reads: “Though defeat in any elections is desolating for the losing candidate, an election protest must not be mused as a vindication of a lost opportunity of the noble cause to serve the public, or worse, as an unjustified assertion of a wounded pride.”

Pineda won with 668,787 votes in the two-way race, a certified true copy of a provincial certificate of canvass showed. Baylon obtained 465,704.

Pineda called the order “right and just” and urged Baylon to “respect the voice of the voters.” INQ