The Commission on Elections office in Tagbilaran has rejected allegations of vote manipulation in Monday’s congressional elections.

Former congressional candidate Atty. Jordan Pizarras claimed on social media that irregularities occurred in the first district, which includes Tagbilaran City. 

Pizarras questioned what he called election “magic,” alleging that vote counts exceeded registered voters in certain areas and suggesting vote padding benefited a specific candidate.

Rafael Montuya, Comelec-Tagbilaran election officer, dismissed these claims, stating that precinct tallies matched election returns.

“It is improbable that there would be more votes than actual voters,” Montuya said.

While declining to comment on data transmission issues to the central office allegedly shown on the Comelec website, Montuya maintained no vote rigging occurred in his jurisdiction.

“The canvassing was transparent and we received no formal protests from any candidate or party,” he said.

DELAYS

The completion of the provincial canvassing in Bohol was delayed due to human error, not a technical glitch, according to Provincial Election Supervisor Eliseo Labaria.

Speaking to members of Bohol media, Labaria clarified that the delay stemmed from issues in the transmission of results from Barangay Danao in Valencia. 

The automated counting machine reportedly failed to fully transmit the election results, causing a setback in the canvassing process.

As a result, the proclamation of winners for governor, vice governor, and third district representative and board members was postponed. 

In contrast, the winners in the first and second districts were already proclaimed early Tuesday morning.

Labaria noted that had the transmission proceeded without issue, the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) could have proclaimed the winning candidates much earlier.

Despite the delay, the proclamation for the remaining provincial positions was successfully conducted on Wednesday evening. 

Labaria also reported that the elections in Bohol were generally peaceful, with no major incidents recorded.