Cebu City Vice Mayor Labella. | CDN File Photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines—Cebu City Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella said that the move to exclude the 173 registered voters of Barangay Kamagayan in Cebu City, who are now residing in Barangay Cubacub in Mandaue City following a demolition in 2009, might be politically motivated.
It was reported that these voters openly showed support to Kamagayan Barangay Captain Raquel Avila, who is a member of Barug-PDP Laban, the political party whose standard bearer is Labella in the upcoming May elections.
“It is a matter of record with us, it cannot be denied. We cannot help to think about the political dimension of the case,” said Labella.
“Whatever it is, whether it is politically motivated or otherwise that is for the court to decide,” he added.
However, Labella could not say if the complainants were representatives or supporters of the rival party, Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan (BO-PK).
On February 7, three individuals, Enriquita Crispe, Anita Telen and Gina Umbao filed a case at the Municipal Trial Court in Cities (MTCC) Branches 1 and 2 in Cebu City to have the Kamagayan registered voters in Cubacub excluded from voting in Cebu City.
They argued that the 173 voters have been residing for the past 10 years in Cubacub and should be excluded from permanent voters of Cebu City.
The Kamagayan residents’ lawyer, Flores Casas, argued on court that the complainants filed the case after the Commission on Election (Comelec) deadline for exclusions, which was supposed to be on February 1.
Labella also hoped that the matter of the filing within the deadlines would be taken into consideration in the case.
Lawyer Marchel Sarno, election officer of Cebu City, said that these voters might be able to vote in Barangay Kamagayan as long as they had not been delisted from the voter’s list, then they would be entitled to vote in Cebu City.
“Mao na gipaexclude nila kay gusto sila dili ma-entitled. So if mosulti ang corte nga iexclude sila, dili na sila ka vote,” said Sarno.
Sarno said that they were waiting for the decision of the court on the matter, but, for now, the 173 voters might still vote for Cebu City. |dbs