Durano’s Election Protest: HRET orders ‘safeguarding’ of ballot boxes in Cebu’s 5th district

Former fifth district representative Ramon “Red” Durano VI. | CDN File Photo

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET) has decided to hear the electoral protest which former representative Ramon “Red” Durano VI of the fifth district of Cebu filed against his successor, Rep. Vincent Franco “Duke” Frasco.

In a Precautionary Order penned by Supreme Court Associate Justice Diosdado Peralta, HRET directed the municipal and city treasurers offices and the local offices of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in the district to secure all the ballot boxes and other election paraphernalia used in the May 2019 election to preserve its integrity.

“Considering the allegations made by the parties, the city treasurer, municipal treasurers, election officers and other responsible personnel and custodial of election documents and paraphernalia are ordered to take immediate steps or measures to safeguard the integrity of all ballot boxes and their contents, list of voters with voting records, books of voters and other documents or paraphernalia used in the election, as well as data storage devices containing electronic data evidencing the conduct and the results of elections in the contested precincts used during the May 2019 Elections, effective immediately and continuing until further orders from this Tribunal,” says the HRET order dated September 3, 2019.

In July, Durano asked the HRET to order a manual recount of the votes cast for the candidates for congress in the fifth district after he claimed of the commission of “glaring irregularities recorded and observed” in the May 13, 2o19 polls.

Read more: Red Durano calls for manual counting of votes in Cebu’s fifth district

Durano questioned his loss to Frasco by a margin of 36,000 votes when his party mates in the Barug Alang sa Kauswagan ug Demokrasya (Bakud) won in nine of 11 Local Government Units (LGUs) in the district.

The contested areas include the 462 clustered precincts located in Danao City and the towns of Borbon, Carmen, Catmon, Compostela, Sogod, and Liloan and Pilar, Poro, San Francisco, and Tudela towns in Camotes Island.

In a press statement, lawyer Gregorio Larrazabal, Durano’s legal counsel, welcomed the HRET decision. He said that their camp submitted a “bullet-proof electoral protest.”

“Our case cannot be dismissed and has merit. This is just the start and thankfully, we made it through the initial stage. Now, it is just a matter of presenting (pieces of evidence) to the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal to give more substance to our case.” he added.

The HRET has also issued summons to hear both parties’ arguments on the electoral protest.

Frasco earlier called the electoral protest as confirmation of “just how out of touch he (Red Durano) is with the people of the fifth district.”

“The Duranos’ inability to accept that people want change and a better life is symptomatic of the tyrannical rule that has shackled the 5th District for far too long. This is precisely the type of governance that both President Rodrigo Duterte and Mayor Sara Duterte abhor, as they, too, wanted change in the 5th, by endorsing my candidacy against Red Durano,” Frasco said.

Frasco was the first to defeat a member of the Durano clan that has dominated the fifth district seat in the last 70 years. / dcb