MANILA — Former mayoral candidate Mylyn Pineda-Cayabyab on Thursday filed an election protest before the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) Main Office, calling for a manual recount in all 239 clustered precincts.
Filing the electoral protest for Pineda-Cayabyab were lead counsel Atty. Arnold Bayobay and Atty. Jeffrey Joseph Miranda, who aubmitted over 13,000 sworn affidavits from voters in the city across precincts.
According to Miranda, this is the first electoral protest filed at the Comelec main office.
The protest also cites alleged statistical anomalies in the results, including the outcome where Pineda-Cayabyab did not register a win in any precinct. The filing also raises concerns over vote distributions across different demographics, suggesting possible irregularities in the automated voting system.
To recall, Mayor-elect Vilma Caluag garnered 127,124 votes (61.29%), while Pineda-Cayabyab got 49,061 votes (23.65%).
In addition to the manual recount, the protest requests the immediate preservation of election documents and digital data, including vote counting machines and SD cards, to protect potential evidence and ensure transparency.
Pineda-Cayabyab stated that the filing aims to uphold electoral integrity and protect the right of voters to have their votes accurately counted.
The protest is now under review by the Comelec.
Also filing separate protests are Kristel “Ato” Agustin and Tin “Kings” Chua, who both ran as councilors under Kambilan.
