Ex-youth leader is youngest incoming Bohol board member
It is clear after Monday’s election that the color blue
turned out to be the favorite color during the 2019 midterm elections.
Padayon Bol-anon did gain a clear majority in the towns,
added more seats and scored victories in the provincial race.
Both sides, the Tinuod nga Bol-anon and Padayon
Bol-anon, are claiming the results as a victory. So who really came
out on top?
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| Add captionvsFormer
Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) leader Frans Garcia (second from left) was proclaimed as one of the three board members in the second district of Bohol on Tuesday night, May 14. She is said to be the youngest provincial lawmaker elected for the midterm elections. Photo: Leo Udtohan |
Here is a look at the winners and losers from
Monday:
There were two winners who were proclaimed on Tuesday,
May 14. They were Bohol Second District Rep. Erico Aristotle
Aumentado and Board Member Alexie Tutor.
Aumentado, who was reelected after winning by a huge
margin over his opponent, was accompanied by his wife Vanessa, mother Greenie,
and his siblings.
Aumentado thanked his supporters for their unwavering
support.
“I promise to continue to help you in whatever way I
can,” he told VRS after the proclamation.
Tutor was also proclaimed representative of Bohol’s third
district with her husband reelected Candijay Mayor Christopher Tutor and
family.
A former youth leader from the Carlos P. Garcia Island,
is now an incoming board member of the province. She would occupy one of the
three seats in the Provincial Board for the second district of Bohol.
Frans Garcia, a former Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) leader, also was Barangay Captain in Tugas on Carlos P. Garcia Island before running for the board member.
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| Images during the canvassing and proclamation of winners at the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, New Capitol. Photos: Leo Udtohan |
At 26, Garcia is the youngest elected provincial lawmaker
for this midterm election.
Outgoing Rep. Arthur Yap of Bohol’s 3rd district is now
the new governor of the province after he defeated former Cabinet secretary
Leoncio Evasco Jr. by 2,161 votes. He got 326,895 votes, while Evasco received
324,734 votes.
Yap, who was with wife Carol and some supporters, was proclaimed
at 3 a.m. on Thursday, May 16, after the canvassing of the returns
from Panglao town, the last municipality to submit the election returns due to
defective SD cards.
“I thank the Boholanos for giving me the opportunity to
serve them. It’s a big pride for me and my family,” Yap who said in the
vernacular.
The star power of President Duterte and his daughter, Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio didn't work magic for their close friend Evasco.
Even before Yap was proclaimed, Evasco announced plans to
contest the result and ask the Commission on Election (Comelec) to declare a
failure of elections in Bohol due to massive vote buying.
In a statement on Wednesday, Evasco, 74, said he
heard reports of vote-buying employed by the camp of Yap in nearly all towns of
the province and in Tagbilaran City.
"The possibility of defeat was therefore no longer a
remote possibility. And yet, I did not entertain fear because I was well aware
of the enormous task and responsibility that an electoral victory would
bring," he said.
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| Images during the May 13, 2019 midterm elections. Everyone, both young and old, of different backgrounds and social classes, exercise their right to vote. Photos: Leo Udtohan |
Evasco said he instructed the Nationalist People’s
Coalition (NPC)-Bohol and Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HNP)-Bohol to prepare the
filing of a petition to declare a failure of elections in the province. He said
it didn't matter to him if the Comelec would grant or deny his request.
"I wish I can say the people have spoken, but that
would be a monumental lie. This is not my fight. It has never been. But I will
fight it to my last breath because it is a fight of the Boholano people and
because they deserve nothing less,” he said.
But Yap, in a separate statement, maintained that there
was no failure of elections in Bohol and that the Boholanos merely decided to
choose him.
"The people have spoken. I have won this
election," he added.
The battle between Yap and Evasco had been likened as the
fight between the Biblical story of David and Goliath.
But it was Yap, the official candidate of the Partido
Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan for governor for Bohol, who was viewed as
the Goliath since he had the machinery and the money to fuel his gubernatorial
bid.
Evasco opted to run under the NPC since it had been his
party ever since. He also ran on the campaign slogan of the “real Boholano”
since Yap was not a native of the province but was based here after he married
a Boholana.
While he didn't have enough financial resources to run
his candidacy, Evasco was banking on the popularity of President Duterte and
Mayor Duterte-Carpio who both endorsed the candidacy of Evasco during their
rallies here.
During his miting de avance in Hernando-Garcia town,
President Duterte took time to fly to Bohol to make a sales pitch for his old
friend who had been with him when he was a prosecutor in Davao. Yap, however,
chose to have a series of rallies to cap his campaign on May 9. But his
attraction in his rallies in the towns of Dauis, Maribojoc and Balilihan and
Tagbilaran City was popular actor, Coco Martin.
During the campaign, Evasco refused to do the
sing-and-dance route and instead, chose to speak before his audience. But Yap,
on the other hand, didn't focus much on speech but sang his way to the hearts
of his audience. His favorite repertoire was the Filipino ballad – Remember Me by
Renz Verano. During the election day, reports came out that 2 P100 bills were
tucked in the sample ballots of Yap who denied these came from his camp.
The canvassing in the province, however, didn't go
smoothly. Eight SD cards were found defective and had to be reconfigured at the
Comelec office in Cebu City. These SD cards contained the returns from the
towns of Sagbayan, Tubigon and Panglao towns.
While the canvassing resumed on Wednesday night,
about 300 supporters of Evasco held a prayer-vigil in front of the Capitol to
protect the uncanvassed ballots at the Sangguniang Panlalawigan. Dr. Sharleen
Lim, who lost mayoral bid to her nephew, Tagbilaran City Mayor John Geesnell
Yap II, said the prayer-vigil was their way to show support to Evasco whom she
said was the rightful governor of Bohol.
“We are here to pray. We wished that the truth would come
out, the real sentiment of the people would come out. We know for a fact that
Evasco is winning. We know for a fact there was massive vote buying. There was
even harassment done to our supporters so we were hoping against hope that this
last precinct would show the real score,” said Lim.
But the crowd, however, after Yap was proclaimed past 3
a.m
In Loay town, a local dynasty in Bohol has crumbled after
three family members lost in last Monday’s polls.
None of the Imboys, who ran for various elective
positions, made it last elections.
The patriarch, incumbent Loay Vice Mayor Brigido Imboy, failed to make it in the magic 8 for the municipal council. The Commission on Elections data showed that he was 11th in the ranking.
His wife, Rosemarie Lim-Imboy, lost to a lawyer in the mayoral race in Loay town. Three hours after the counting, Rosemarie posted a statement on her Facebook account, congratulating Ayuban for his victory.
Imboy’s daughter, incumbent Mayor Rochelle Brigitte Imboy-Abutazil, lost in her reelection bid against , Rodrigo Cubarol Jr.
In Tagbilaran City, voters gave incumbent Mayor John Geesnell “Baba” Yap II a landslide victory.
Yap garnered 43,924 votes against his aunt, Dr. Sharleen
Lim who had 5,770 votes.
Lim is married to former Tagbilaran mayor Dan Lim, older brother of Yap’s mother.
“I would like to thank the Tagbilaranons for the
opportunity to serve them for 3 more years under the ‘asenso (progress) pa
more’ theme,” said Yap. “Rest assured that the consultative and participative
style of governance will continue.”
Lim also thanked her supporters. “My slate and I may have
lost this battle, but it is with heads up high and big smiles that we can say
we fought fair and square because to the end, we did not resort to
vote-buying,” she said in a post on Facebook.
Vice Mayor Jose Antonio Veloso got a fresh term after he
defeated Barangay Poblacion 1 Captain Arlene Karaan.
Other winners: Also proclaimed as vice governor-elect was
outgoing Rep. Rene Relampagos of Bohol’s 1st district; outgoing Gov. Edgar
Chatto as first district Representative; Aldner Damalerio, Ricky Masamayor and
Lucille Lagunay as first district board members; Dionisio Victor Balite, Jade
Bautista, Elpidio Bonita and Elpidio Jala as board members for 3rd district;
and Vierna Boniel-Maglasang, Restituto Auxtero were also proclaimed as board
members for 2nd district of Bohol.
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