INQUIRER.net Eleksyon 2007

Slain Quezon town mayor wins poll protest

Inquirer Southern Luzon

LUCENA CITY, Philippines—The Regional Trial Court here on Friday declared the slain mayor of Candelaria town, David Emralino, as the winner of his election protest against incumbent Mayor Ferdinand Maliwanag.

Judge Bienvenido Mapaye of RTC-Branch 55 declared Emralino as the duly elected mayor of Candelaria with total votes of 16,681 against Maliwanag’s 15,853, or a winning margin of 828 votes.

Records of Candelaria election officials showed Maliwanag, then vice mayor, defeated Emralino in the 2007 election with the former garnering 20,039 votes against the latter’s 16,490, or a winning margin of 3,549 votes.

After the election, Emralino, who had been mayor of Candelaria for a total of 15 years and was seeking re-election to what would have been his sixth term, immediately filed a protest on grounds of fraud.

In his ruling, Mapaye said that 1,619 ballots for Maliwanag were found to have been written by one person; 1,073 ballots were fake or spurious; 398 ballots were written by two persons; and 686 were found to be marked.

Ironically, Emralino was no longer around to enjoy his victory.

The former mayor was shot to death by two gunmen while he was standing inside the Catholic church compound in Candelaria last July 26. His two bodyguards were also shot but survived the attack.

Emralino’s supporters all pointed their fingers at the political opposition as the mastermind of the killing.

“The court decision is a cause for celebration and at the same time, sadness because he is no longer around to enjoy his victory. But our family and the people of Candelaria dedicates this day to him,” Emralino’s son, Al, told the Inquirer over the phone.

Firecrackers could be heard in the background during the interview.

“My Dad bought lots of firecrackers for this day. He trusted our judicial system that much. He believed that he will be vindicated,” said the young Emralino.

The Inquirer called the mobile phone of Maliwanag several times to get his reaction to the court ruling but he did not answer.

Mapaye said after the two year-old case was transferred to his court last January he vowed to expedite the trial of the case.

“There had been plenty of motions for inhibitions in the previous court, but when the case was transferred to me, I rejected all motions. That fast-tracked the resolution of the case,” Mapaye said in an interview.

The judge also turned down Maliwanag’s motion to dismiss the protest on grounds that Emralino was dead.

Mapaye cited the case of De Castro vs the Commission on Election (267 SCRA 806) which states: “It was held that the death of the protestant, as in this case, neither constitutes a ground for the dismissal of the contest nor oust the trial court of its jurisdiction to decide the election contest.”

The family of the slain mayor declined to disclose their next legal moves.

“We will still consult our lawyers,” Al said.

According to some lawyers privy to the case, Emralino’s lawyers will file a motion for execution with the Comelec. If granted, the Comelec will order Maliwanag to vacate the post to clear the way for Vice Mayor Anatalia Atienza to take over as Candelaria’s new chief executive.

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