Village chiefs want Biñan polls declared a failure
By Marlon Ramos
Southern Luzon Bureau
Last updated 06:52pm (Mla time) 05/20/2007
BIÑAN, Laguna, Philippines — Twenty of the 24 village chiefs of this town supported the declaration of a failure of elections here, saying their mayoral candidate — the son-in-law of Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chair Benjamin Abalos Sr. — was a victim of fraud.
In a hastily called news briefing on Saturday, the village chiefs openly declared their endorsement of the petition filed by Jose Ruben “Cookie” Yatco who accused his rival, incumbent Vice Mayor Marlyn Alonte of conniving with unscrupulous teachers and the municipal treasurer to delay the opening of precincts during last week’s elections.
The village chiefs said they themselves witnessed how individuals closely connected with Alonte harassed voters and even padlocked some of the precincts in Yatco’s known bailiwicks.
In an en banc decision, the Comelec suspended the canvass of votes on Yatco’s petition.
The election body also scheduled the hearing for Yatco’s appeal to declare a failure of elections in the town.
“Some former and current village officials were seen inside the polling precincts telling the voters that the election was suspended and that they should go to municipal hall to join a protest rally,” said a village captain who asked not to be identified for security reasons.
Lawyer Tony Redula, Yatco’s counsel, said that in some precincts, Alonte’s supporters told voters that a bomb was found inside the polling place just to prevent them from casting their votes.
Redula said the harassment, terror tactics and other efforts to disrupt the polls happened simultaneously at around 9 a.m. on May 14.
“We have proof that this was a synchronized and calculated effort to create confusion among our people and terrorize the voters,” he told reporters.
Redula also assailed the sudden change in the composition of the board of election inspectors (BEI) which, he said, was done without prior approval from the Comelec.
He said that aside from the fact that the change was made during the Election Day itself, almost two-thirds of the BEI members handling the 676 polling precincts were replaced by individuals who were supporters of Alonte, “some of whom were not even registered voters in Biñan.”
“Some BEI chairmen were not even teachers. If we have illegal BEI members manning the precincts, we definitely have no elections to speak of,” Redula argued.
Yatco identified Romana Espinosa and Mirasol Isabelo, the former and current district schools supervisors, respectively, as behind the irregularity in the change of BEI members.
Yatco, who is married to Abalos’ youngest daughter Joy, also accused municipal treasurer Angelito Alon-alon of intentionally delaying the release of elections paraphernalia to impede the start of voting.
He said more than half of the town’s more than 106,000 registered voters failed to cast their votes because of the alleged tactics to undermine the elections.
“Suspiciously, the delay in the opening of precincts and the harassment of voters occurred only in places where I enjoy mass support,” Yatco told the Philippine Daily Inquirer, parent company of INQUIRER.net.
Sought for comment, Alonte laughed off allegations that she cheated to defeat Yatco, who is her second cousin.
Alonte said, “If somebody had the capability to commit fraud to ensure his victory in the elections, it was Yatco.”
“Do you really think I have the power to do that? Am I the in-law of chairman Abalos?” she quipped.
Alonte said even her camp protested the delay in the opening of the polling precincts.
She said if not for the delay, she would have easily beaten Yatco by at least 20,000 votes.
She also questioned the timing of Yatco’s petition. “He only filed that upon realizing that I was winning. It was also pretty obvious that the Comelec ruling was railroaded to favor him.”
Yatco said it was unfair to link Abalos to the political fuss in Biñan.
He said linking the Comelec chair to the suspension of the canvassing of votes was “just a rehashed allegation.”
“I was already a politician when I married my father-in-law’s daughter. I already won as a top councilor and later as a vice mayor even before my wife’s father was appointed Comelec chairman,” he said.
“Why? Is it a sin to be the son-in-law of chairman Abalos?”
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