December 2007 Archives

By Kristine L. Alave Inquirer FORMER congressman Robert âDodotâ Jaworski Jr. has vowed to continue his fight for the post of Pasig mayor as the Commission on Elections will start recounting votes from 1,317 of the cityâs precincts Monday. âI want to get closure. In my heart, I know I won in the last elections. I won ât give up the fight. This is for the sake of the people,â Jaworski told the In quirer. He reiterated his claim that the official results of the cityâs mayoral race in the May 14 elections did not tally with his watchersâ numbers. The Comelec Second Division recently ordered the Pasig City Treasurerâs Office and its local division to conduct an inventory and seal ballot boxes from the 1 ,317 precincts, the first step in the recount of votes. Jaworski earlier requested the Comelec to open and recount all the votes from t he second district of the city which has 1,067 precincts. In response, Eusebio, who was declared the winner, filed a counter-protest for the recount of votes cast in 250 precincts of the cityâs first district. Based on the Comelecâs finally tally, Eusebio garnered 116,463 votes against the 107, 141 cast in Jaworskiâs favor. The Comelec, meanwhile, ordered Jaworski and Eusebio to pay P868,676 and P246,1 60, respectively, to defray the expenses for the revision of the ballots and ot her incidental costs. The two were also directed to shoulder the salaries of th e canvassers. The fight over the mayoralty in Pasig City was one of the most closely-watched contests in Metro Manila, with Jaworski and Eusebio trading allegations of vote buying and election tampering over the course of canvassing. Based on the Comelecâs order, its local division should make an accounting of t he ballots Monday at the cityâs covered court, which is being used as a distrib ution center for the city governmentâs âPaskong Handogâ project for indigent re sidents. Some parts of the court are also under construction. Ma. Anne Gonzales, Pasig election office, said they want to reschedule the inve ntory until after the project is finished. Jaworski said this is the second time officials of the Pasig City Hall had aske d the Comelec to reset the inventory. He expressed fears that his rival could b e behind the delay. He added that his lawyers had sent a âstrongly wordedâ letter to the Second Div ision opposing a reschedule of the inventory. If the Comelec does not rule on the issue, Jaworski said he expects the invento ry to begin on Dec. 18. âI donât understand why theyâre delaying it. If I were the Comelec, I would be glad that it would be out of my hands. Maybe they are anxious about the content s of the ballot boxes,â the former congressman said. Gonzales, on the other hand, denied that the local Comelec wants to delay the i nventory. She said the area where they are supposed to conduct the inventory is ânot safe.â She added that the Comelec office in Intramuros would rule on thei r request today. âThe designated space is open and there is a road. If somebody throws something at us, then what would happen? I have a responsibility to my employees,â Gonza les said. The Inquirer contacted Eusebio but he did not answer his phone. However, his la wyer earlier scoffed at Jaworskiâs claim that he should have been declared the winner.