BREAKING: Gwen files electoral protest

Outgoing Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia | Sugbo News Screenshot

CEBU CITY, Philippines – Outgoing Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia has not accepted her defeat during the May 12 polls.

Garcia on Tuesday, June 3, announced that she has filed an election protest, questioning the results of the gubernatorial race.

“We have filed an electoral protest. We hope that the Comelec (Commissions on Election) will act and will dispatch on this electoral protest,” she said.

The governor, who will remain in office until June 30, said her camp found ‘growing technical and software evidence’ alleging that votes intended for her had been transferred to one of her rivals, governor-elect Pamela Baricuatro.

“There is now growing proof that the votes intended for Governor Gwen Garcia, in fact, were credited to my opponent. There is technical and software-proven evidence,” Garcia said.

Her electoral protests cover over 4,100 precincts in Cebu province, the country’s most vote rich area, adding that it as “a sign of good faith to all mayors.”

“Because, as I said, I truly believed that the result for the gubernatorial election here in Cebu did not reflect the honest will,” added Garcia.

Reporters have reached out to Baricuatro, but she is yet to comment on the matter as of this writing.

Her lawyer, Atty. Edmund Lao, said that they are yet to receive a copy of Garcia’s election protest.

“We are yet to receive a copy of the electoral protest. And as soon as we secure the document, we will provide relevant comments. It is surprising that such remedy is being availed by outgoing Gov Gwen Garcia’s camp considering that Governor-elect PAM BARICUATRO received overwhelming 1.1 MILLION mandate from the Cebuanos,” Lao said.

Neophyte politician Baricuatro defeated Garcia, a scion of one of Cebu’s most influential clans, in a stunning upset. The former garnered over 1.1 million votes while the latter managed to gain close to 800,000 only.

Since Baricuatro’s proclamation, Garcia has not formally conceded to the race.

It can also be recalled that shortly before the winner was declared, a representative of Garcia tried to file a petition before the Board of Canvassers to suspend the proclamation.