Comelec finally proclaims Davide

REELECTED. Gov. Hilario Davide III is proclaimed by lawyer Eliseo Labario, chairman of the Provincial Board of Canvassers, as the winner in the Cebu governor’s race at the Capitol Social Hall. His wife and daughter were with him at his proclamation yesterday. (CDN PHOTO/LITO TECSON)

GOV. Hilario Davide III was finally proclaimed by the Provincial Board of Canvassers (PBOC) as the winner of the gubernatorial race, after the votes from the special election in Barangay Gabi, Cordova, were delivered to the Municipal Board of Canvassers.

Davide of the Liberal Party won against One Cebu bet Winston Garcia by a margin of 22,656 votes.

With Davide’s proclamation also came the proclamation of Cordova’s eight councilors which was put on hold until after the special elections in Gabi was conducted and completed yesterday at around 5 p.m. Before the special election, independent candidate for councilor John Tan was holding the 8th spot but after the complete results of the town were in, Tan was overtaken by LP’s Angel Gairanod by a narrow 10-vote lead.

The MBOC transmitted the complete election results to the PBOC at around 6:15 p.m.

Congressman Wilfredo Caminero (LP), garnering 81,167 votes from the entire second district, was reelected as Cebu’s second district representative and proclaimed in absentia.

Glenn Bercede (LP) and Jonkie Ouano (One Cebu) were also proclaimed winners of the Provincial Board race in the sixth district with 104,216 votes and 103,932 votes, respectively.

DAVIDE

Davide garnered 616,381 votes over Garcia’s 593,725 votes.

In 2013, Davide beat One Cebu bet Pablo John Garcia, Winston’s younger brother, with a lead of over 160,000 votes.

With a fresh mandate, Davide said he plans to continue his existing projects as well as start new ones.

“Our service will continue. We will strive to strengthen our healthcare services. That will remain our top priority followed by food security, infrastructure and peace and order, of course, social services,” he said shortly after his proclamation
Colorful confetti erupted from party poppers following the governor’s proclamation, while supporters holding blue and yellow balloons came out of hiding to surprise Davide.

Present during the proclamation were Davide’s wife Jobella, his daughter Niña and mother Virginia Perez-Davide.

He said he will fully support the incoming administration of presumptive president Rodrigo Duterte.

“We may not have the same party, but elections are over. The bottom line there is what is good for Cebu and what we can do,” said Davide.

The governor lauded Duterte’s proposal to impose a nationwide curfew for minors, saying there is wisdom in it, but it needs to be studied first.

But he said the idea of a federal government would take a long process to implement.

The governor-elect thanked the Cebuanos for the support and said he hopes to gain the trust and confidence of his opponent’s supporters as well.