Atty. Maria Velle Abella
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The recounting of votes for the late Cebu City councilor candidate, Marie Velle “Amay” Abella will have to be postponed after incumbent Councilors Philip Zafra and Renato Osmeña, Jr., filed a motion for reconsideration over the nullification of their proclamations in 2019 to pave way for the recounting.
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) en banc convened on September 16, 2021, to tackle Abella’s request for a recount of the votes following the declaration of nuisance candidacy over her opponent Sherwin Abella in the 2019 elections.
The counting today should have been done to transfer the votes of the nuisance candidate to Abella’s favor.
However, Zafra and Osmeña filed an appeal because their proclamations were nullified recently to pave way for the recounting, and this affected Zafra most who is at the 8th spot of the South District line-up.
Zafra told CDN Digital in a phone interview that he wants Abella to find justice from the nuisance candidate, but he had to make an appeal because he would be affected in the process, after serving almost a full term as a councilor in the present Sangguniang Panglungsod.
The councilor said he is appealing for his proclamation, which was nullified because he contests that the disqualification case of Sherwin Abella should be separate from his proclamation as councilor.
“Mahug man gud nga di ta matagaan og due process. Supposedly, para nako no, the disqualificaiton case should be a concern only between Attorney Amay and Sherwin, not me. Since maapektuhan man ko, akong tan-aw sa proseso after madeclare si Sherwin as nuisance, ang votes icount, that’s right, but dili unta iannul usa among proclamation,” said Zafra.
Zafra said that the annulment of the proclamation should come after the counting and only if Abella indeed won a spot in the council.
He also notes that election cases are personal in nature and with the death of Abella in 2020 due to an illness, this may be a forfeit case since no one can represent her.
However, the camp of Abella is determined that the votes should be counted.
Lawyer Estrella Menchavez, the legal counsel of Abella and her kin, told CDN Digital that they are still determined that the votes will be counted to give the late Abella the justice she deserved.
Abella’s camp already received the motion for reconsideration and Mechavez said they will wait for the Comelec en banc’s decision on the motion before requesting for the recounting to proceed.
“Ato lang usa husayon katong appeal and then we will ask for a recount. Hopefully unta the Comelec en banc can decide fast,” said Menchavez in a phone interview.
The lawyer said the family and supporters of Abella are eager to see the results of the recounting as a chance to finally settle the issue and lay it to res /rcg
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