Luis Villafuerte files poll protest versus grandson

Luis R. Villafuerte

NAGA CITY, Philippines—Following his defeat in the recent gubernatorial polls in Camarines Sur, Rep. Luis R. Villafuerte filed an election protest against newly proclaimed Gov. Miguel Luis Villafuerte—his grandson.

In an election protest formally filed at the Commission on Elections (Comelec) last May 26, Luis alleged his grandson’s camp was involved in “disputing, controverting and impugning the results of the elections.”

He said his grandson’s candidacy should be nullified due to the use of the false nickname “LRay-Jr” instead of the young Villafuerte’s real nickname, “Migz.” This was a direct violation of Section 78 of the Omnibus Election Code, he added.

The elder Villafuerte argued that the use of the false nickname rendered the proclamation of the winning governor questionable because the legal name of his grandson which was listed in the Provincial Certificate of Canvass of Votes was not consistent with the name printed on the ballots.

He is also seeking a recount of the ballots in Camarines Sur due to what he claimed were 114,391 unaccounted or missing votes from the 720,375 voters who actually voted in the May 13 polls.

The camp of the elder Villafuerte blamed the discrepancies on the compact flash cards which they said could have been “reconfigured, hacked or tampered” to favor Migz. Shiena M. Barrameda, Inquirer Southern Luzon