Edduba widens lead over Tubban in Kalinga gubernatorial poll recount
by Zaldy ComandaBAGUIO CITY – After losing by just 10 votes in the 2019 elections, former Kalinga vice governor James Edduba now finds himself leading Governor-elect Ferdinand Tubban in the initial recount at pilot precincts in an election protest he filed with the Commission on Election (Comelec).
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The motion filed by Edubba before the Commission on Election (Comelec) showed that he recovered a net of seven votes, which was more than the required substantial recovery of twenty percent.
Aside from the seven votes, Edduba had a total of 20 claimed ballots, which was more than enough to offset the winning margin of Tubban.
With these figures, Edduba now has a lead of 17 votes.
Last January 30, the revision, recount and reappreciation of the ballots from the pilot protested clustered precincts was terminated.
Under Comelec Resolution No. 9720, there is substantial recovery when the protestant is able to recover at least 20 percent of the overall lead of the protestee or counter-protestee.
Edduba’s camp welcomed the development, saying it has proven his victory in the 2019 polls. He also bared that he initially did not want to file an election protest, but his volunteers wanted to get an explanation where missing ballots went.
“Noong tinalo ako ng 10 votes, I felt I betrayed my supporters for not doing my best during the campaign but with new development nafeel ko na I am proven correct, na naloko kami last election. Kahit hindi man ako paupuin, at least alam ng tao na ako yung totoong nanalo.I would like to prove that you can win even if you do not have money, kung may magandang intention ka, may nakita silang maganda kang ginawa. I would like to do that in Kalinga,” Edduba said.
“I know na usually sa experience ko sa protest walang nananalo, but dahil sa mga supporters ko, sabi nila this is the time na ilaban mo naman kami. Practically even the money that was used for this is nagpass the hats sila, even until now, they are still contributing. This fight is not only for me but for my supporters,” he said.
It can be recalled that Edduba demanded a recount in some areas of Kalinga after Tubban defeated him by a mere 10 votes in the May 2019 local and national elections.
The election protest looms after reports showed the transmittal of election results from certain towns, such as Sucbot in Pinukpuk, were also delayed.
This supposedly changed the outcome of the elections. The delay of the result and the transmission from Sucbot was due to problems related to the vote counting machine (VCM), prompting the change to a substitute machine.