History in Makati: Kid Peña beats Jejomar Binay in congressional race

MANILA, Philippines — Hard work during campaign season.

Liberal Party (LP) candidate Romulo “Kid” Peña on Tuesday morning said that was his secret to defeating former Vice President Jejomar Binay in the congressional derby in the country’s leading financial and business district.

In a fairly close contest, Peña won Makati City’s first district congressional seat by receiving 71,035 votes compared to Binay’s 65,229 votes.

They were followed by John Mesina (1,213 votes) and Ferdie Sevilla (728 votes)

Peña credited his win to hard work during campaign season and underscored his focus on the masses.

Peña was proclaimed at the Makati Coliseum past 4 in the morning.

Romulo Kid Pena  INQUIRER PHOTO/Joan Bondoc

Motion to defer proclamation

As Peña was about to be proclaimed, however, the camp of Binay called for its delay claiming that there was a mismatch between the number of votes collected and the number of voters who voted.

Binay’s camp explained that 147,164 people voted, but only 138,205 votes were recorded, leaving a discrepancy of 8,959 votes.

Election Officer IV Atty. Jayvee Villagracia, however, denied the motion and asked for a protest to be filed instead.

“I’m used to it, remember when I was still vice mayor in 2013, ganun din naman,” Peña told reporters when asked about his reaction on the commotion. (Editor: Abe Cerojano)