MANILA – The Commission on Elections is reported to have set on Feb. 2 the manual recount of votes cast for mayor in the City of San Fernando in the last elections.
This, after ruling that the instant election protest filed by candidate Mylyn Pineda-Cayabyab as “sufficient in form and content.”
Pineda-Cayabyab filed the protest to contest the official results, citing alleged irregularities and inconsistencies in the vote count. The official canvass showed incumbent Mayor Vilma Caluag with 127,124 votes to Pineda-Cayabyab’s 49,061. Caluag and her entire slate were proclaimed on May 13, defeating Pineda-Cayabyab’s lineup, which included several incumbents seeking reelection, while some of Caluag’s candidates were first-time contenders or had previously run unsuccessfully in past elections.
“The allegations in the protest are specific enough to warrant the recpunt proceedings relative to the instant case. Contrary to the claim of the protestee [Caluag], this Commission (First Division) finds the election protest sufficient in form and content. All other arguments in the Answer [Caluag’s} are bereft of merit.”
Thus ordered the decision dated Dec. 25, 2025 signed by presiding commissioner Aimee P. Ferolino, and commissioners Ernesto Ferdinand P. Maceda Jr. and Maria Norina Tangaro-Caringal.
Election officials stressed that the recount is a fact-finding process meant to verify the accuracy of the vote and reinforce public confidence in the electoral system, not a determination of guilt or victory. Punto News Team/FB photo: Mayor Vilma Caluag
