Abante on winning Manila 6th district race: Comelec showed ‘courage’

Manila 6th District Rep. Bienvenido “Benny” Abante (Screengrab from a hearing in the House of Representatives)

MANILA, Philippines — The upholding of the previous decision of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to proclaim 6th District Rep. Bienvenido “Benny” Abante Jr. as the winner in Manila’s congressional race meant that “truth matters” in public service.

This is the statement of Abante on Monday after the Comelec denied the motion for reconsideration filed by Manila City 6th District Representative-elect Joey Chua Uy.

The poll body also affirmed the earlier ruling of its Second Division declaring Uy’s candidacy void from the beginning.

“I thank the Comelec for its courage and clarity. In upholding the law, it also upheld the truth,” Abante said.

“As Scripture declares in Psalm 85:11: Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven,” the lawmaker noted.

“Indeed, what was hidden has been revealed, and what is right has been affirmed,” he added.

 Abante likewise thanked the residents in his district for their patience.

“To the people of the Sixth District of Manila, thank you for your prayers, your faith and your patience,” he told them.

“I return to Congress humbled by this responsibility and resolved to continue serving with the same values I have always upheld: Faith in God, love for our kababayan (fellow citizens), and respect for the Rule of Law,” he said.

In a 12-page resolution dated Monday, the Comelec en banc directed the Manila City Board of Canvassers to reconvene and proclaim Abante as the duly elected representative of the city’s 6th District.

On June 18, the Comelec Second Division voided Uy’s certificate of candidacy due to alleged material misrepresentation of his citizenship.

The division also ruled that the votes cast for Uy be considered stray.

Abante lost his reelection bid to Uy in a tight race, receiving 63,358 votes compared to Uy’s 64,746. /apl