House of Representatives

HRET junks poll protest vs Manila congressman Manny Lopez

Mara Cepeda

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HRET junks poll protest vs Manila congressman Manny Lopez
The House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal dismisses the protest filed by ex-Manila congressman Atong Asilo as the latter filed the case based 'on a mere gut feel'

The House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET) has upheld the victory of Manila 1st District Representative Manuel “Manny” Lopez in the 2019 elections.

In a decision promulgated on August 27 but given to the media only on Thursday, November 5, the HRET junked the poll protest filed against Lopez by his sole opponent Benjamin “Atong” Asilo, a 3-term congressman before Lopez first defeated him in Manila in 2016.

In the 2019 elections, Lopez garnered a total of 86,993 votes against Asilo’s 73,306 votes. 

The 9-member tribunal dismissed the electoral protest after Asilo himself decided not to present the 112 witnesses he initially claimed would prove fraud was committed in the elections. 

Asilo instead wanted to present a technical examination expert who will testify on the results of the examination of the signatures and thumb marks found in the Election Day Computerized Voters’ Lists in the protested clustered precincts. 

For the HRET, Asilo’s move only showed that his protest was not lodged on electoral anomalies but the “alleged shocking discrepancy” between the number of voters who actually cast their vote as against the total number of combined votes obtained by both Asilo and Lopez. 

“From the foregoing, it is clear that protestant filed the instant protest on a mere gut feel or suspicion that the election results do not reflect the will of the electorate of the 1st District of Manila,” the HRET said. 

“Allegations based solely on mathematical assumptions and conjectures are devoid of substance and would not qualify as specific acts or omissions constituting electoral fraud, anomalies, or irregularities,” the tribunal added. 

In a statement on Thursday, Lopez thanked the HRET for dismissing the election case and affirming his victory in 2019. 

“Since the beginning, we are confident that the will of the people and the choice of my constituents will emerge victorious against this obvious political maneuver.  We thank the HRET for settling this matter once and for all,” said Lopez.

“Our landslide win was clear and irrefutable that even our opponent failed to present his supposed ‘witnesses,’” he added. 

Read a full copy of the HRET decision below:

– Rappler.com

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Mara Cepeda

Mara Cepeda specializes in stories about politics and local governance. She covers the Office of the Vice President, the Senate, and the Philippine opposition. She is a 2021 fellow of the Asia Journalism Fellowship and the Reham al-Farra Memorial Journalism Fellowship of the UN. Got tips? Email her at mara.cepeda@rappler.com or tweet @maracepeda.