BY GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Defeated by 10 votes, San Enrique mayoral bet Napoleon Delfinado Jr. has filed an election protest, a little more than three weeks after the May 9 elections.
This was confirmed yesterday by reelected Mayor Jilson Tubillara, who confirmed that his camp already received a copy of the election protest filed by Delfinado.
Tubillara got 8,182 votes while his opponent Delfinado garnered 8,172, a very slim margin of 10 votes.
He said he respects the right of Delfinado to file an election protest, stressing that “this is democracy.”
Tubillara, who took his oath of office and four other elected San Enrique councilors, is optimistic that he will still win, maintaining that the VCM (Vote Counting Machine) is 99.9 percent accurate.
A post on Facebook by Youth of Leo and Carlo, showed that ballot boxes from San Enrique had already been moved to the compound of the Regional Trial Court in Bago City, where the protest was filed.
Tubillara’s running mate, incumbent Vice Mayor Meschille Balenario, however, lost to Carlo Magno, the running mate of Delfinado.
Four of the eight winning councilors are affiliated with the group of Delfinado.
Tubillara is now on his sixth term as mayor of San Enrique.
In more than 15 years of serving as mayor of San Enrique, Tubillara earlier said election protests never prospered.*
