The Cebu Provincial Prosecutor's Office has thrown out the electoral sabotage complaint that fourth district Rep. Benhur Salimbangon lodged against Celestino Martinez III and two members of the board of canvassers who sat during the May 2007 elections.
Acting Cebu Provincial Prosecutor Raul Cristoria dismissed the case, citing a lack of evidence to move it forward. He ruled that his office could not establish probable cause when the material presented fell short of what was needed to support the charge.
According to Cristoria, Salimbangon's complaint was not backed by sworn statements from witnesses who had firsthand knowledge of the election offense supposedly committed by Martinez and canvassers Jose Menguez and Rhett Menguez. He noted that even in his own sworn declaration, Salimbangon never claimed to have personally seen the irregularities he attributed to the respondents.
In his complaint, Salimbangon accused Martinez of rigging the results in the town of Bogo with the cooperation of the two canvassers, alleging that Martinez was declared the winner because the board favored him. He said the election returns from all of Bogo's precincts began arriving with the reception and custody group at around 10 p.m. on May 14, 2007.
Salimbangon claimed the two Menguezes deliberately dragged out the count even though the board was required to finish within 36 hours of receiving the returns. He said the proceedings were adjourned repeatedly and often failed to resume on schedule because the two would show up late, part of what he described as a scheme to swap the genuine returns with fabricated ones and pad Martinez's vote count.
Martinez, for his part, rejected all the allegations, insisting the board of canvassers did nothing illegal during the 2007 polls.
reference: https://www.philstar.com/cebu-news/2010/12/13/638539/electoral-sabotage-case-vs-martinez-dismissed
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