Court Pronounces Winner of Chairman Post in Brgy. Bonbon

The court has finally ruled that the real winner for barangay captain in Bonbon — a hinterland barangay of Cebu City — is Team Rama’s ally Alexander Ibarita and not Eduardo Cabriana, who was proclaimed winner by the Barangay Board of Canvassers after the barangay elections held last October 28.

The Municipal Trial Court in Cities (MTCC) presided by Judge Monalila Tecson, had recounted the filled up ballots in different precincts of Barangay Bonbon and found out that Ibarita won over Cabriana by 15 votes.

The records show that Ibarita got 1,463 while Cabriana only got 1,448 votes after the revision, recount and appreciation of all the contested ballots.

Motion for Reconsideration

But Cabriana said he is planning to file a motion for reconsideration of the court’s decision.

It was found out that there were some filled up ballots that were not counted by the Board of Election Tellers (BET) on the reason that they had doubts, particularly to some unclear handwritings of the voters.

But the court ruled that no ballot shall be rejected as marked unless clear and sufficient reasons justify the rejection.

“Any doubt should always be resolved in favor of the validity of the ballot, so as to respect the will of the voter,” the court’s decision reads.

After the counting of the ballots conducted by the BET immediately after the last elections, Cabriana garnered 1,431 votes while Ibarita only had 1,383 votes – a margin of 48 votes.

Barangay Borbon has 2,814 total number of votes cast.

Unsatisfied of the outcome of the said elections, Ibarita then filed an election protest before the court claiming that the BET did not counted for his favor the votes intended for him.

Ibarita, who is on his third term as barangay captain, will quickly assume back as head of a quite mountain barangay of Cebu City once the court will finally issue the order for him to assume the position.