NMYL election marred by “ghost voters”
ALAMINOS CITY—A provincial board member of Pangasinan has alleged that the election of officers of the National Movement of Young Legislators (NMYL) held on February 21 in Cebu City was marred by anomalies.
Fifth District Board Member Clemente Arboleda Jr., who ran and lost as treasurer of NMYL, said discrepancies in vote count and registration became evident that led to the filing of a protest by the Green Team that sought to nullify the results of the election.
Arboleda claimed “ghost voters” were allegedly used to pad the votes in favor of the Yellow Team that won all positions at stake.
The Yellow Team, from the Liberal Party, led by Councilor Kurt Asis of Agusan del Sur and his entire slate defeated the Green Team, from the Nationalist People’s Coalition, led by Board Member Aristotle Gaza of Bataan along with Arboleda.
The losing Green Team filed a petition on February 24 before the Department of Interior and Local Government seeking to declare the election null and avoid, but the group intends to bring the matter before the legal court.
At least 51 out of 81 provinces have thrown support to Arboleda’s group.
“We were robbed and cheated and it’s really saddening,” Arboleda said during the provincial board session last Monday held in this city.
400 VOTE-DISCREPANCY
Arboleda told local reporters that the actual votes cast was about 1,260 but the number of actual registered voters of NMYL across the country was only about 800.
“So you can easily see a discrepancy of more than 400 votes,” Arboleda said.
He cited that there were members who supposedly cast their vote but were physically absent such as four from Lingayen and another four from Batangas who were in Guam at the time of the election.
Arboleda also pointed out the rule that legislators above 40 years old are disqualified to vote yet San Fabian’s vice mayor and five councilors who have exceeded the age limit were allowed to vote.
Fourth District Board Member Mojamito Libunao Jr., who also hails from San Fabian, said the town’s incumbent vice mayor is already a senior citizen.
Arboleda got more than 600 votes while the winner from Roxas City, Councilor Del Rosario, got more than 800 votes.
NOT THE FIRST TIME
Arboleda said this was not the first time that alleged cheating happened but “this was the worst”.
He also questioned how the funds of the NMYL were spent.
“Have you seen any project of NMYL in Pangasinan which is one of the biggest provinces? There’s none,” he said..–Johanne R. Macob and Tita Roces
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