Sanchez’s daughter files motion to intervene

THE eldest daughter of the late Cebu vice governor Gregorio Sanchez Jr. filed with the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in Manila a motion for leave to intervene in the poll protest lodged against her father.

Grecylda “Gigi” Sanchez-Zaballero yesterday said she filed the motion after their camp was given  notice that a recount of the ballots from last year’s vice gubernatorial derby involving her father and businessman Glenn Soco will begin on Monday.

In her  motion, Gigi said  although she is aware that she could not succeed her father in  office, her “only and primordial consideration in wanting to intervene is to ensure that the will of the voters is made known fair and square.”

She told reporters, “I want to witness and see that the counting is exact.”

Zaballero  said she will fly on Monday to Manila with her relatives to witness the recount.

The Comelec in May  said Zaballero is not  a “party of interest” in the case.

Provincial Election Supervisor Lionel Marco Castillano told Cebu Daily News that since the vice governor died of cancer, his family had no legal standing to take on his case.

“The vice governor’s office is not a property that one could inherit,” Castillano said.

He said the party of interest is Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale, who assumed office after Sanchez’s death.

Castillano received an order from the Comelec’s second division  to collect 20 percent of the ballots in Cebu.

Meanwhile, Zaballero  scored   Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia after hearing reports that she  visited Comelec in Manila.

“It was a timely visit considering that the recount of votes is about to start,” she said.

Governor Garcia, however,  denied she visited the Comelec in Manila after her three-day visit to the province of Ilocos Norte.

“Let’s not put ourselves to shame by picking up dubious stories and talking about it in a press conference,”  Garcia said.

“I can categorically state that for her to pick up such a statement and repeat it as gospel-truth—  that is  a complete lie… So, whoever told her that told a great lie.”