DUMAGUETE CITY, Negros Oriental, May 12 (PIA) -- The Provincial Board of Canvassers (BOC) has proclaimed Pryde Henry Teves as new governor for Negros Oriental.

The proclamation was held at 7:00 p.m. on May 10, 2022 at the Provincial Canvassing Center inside the Provincial Legislative Building.

Teves, who is currently sitting as the mayor of Bayawan City in the southern part of the province, garnered 301,319 votes against  closest rival for the position, incumbent Gov. Roel Degamo who got 281,773 votes based on the final results transmitted to the BOC.

On the other hand, other candidates for the gubernatorial position, namely incumbent Vice Gov. Mark Macias and a certain Ruel Degamo garnered 44,522 votes and 49,039 votes, respectively, based on the transparency server of the Commission on Elections.

Teves thanked his supporters and those who voted for him in this year’s elections and told them he is ready to take on the challenge as the province’s next local chief executive.

“The challenge is daunting, but nevertheless, I feel I am ready and I will just do my best. Sa akong mga (to all my) supporters, allies, especially my family, thank you very much,” Teves said.

In the recently concluded Candidates’ Forum organized by the Diocesan Electoral Board of the Diocese of Dumaguete and Philippine Information Agency, Teves said he will replicate in the province the development programs he had implemented in Bayawan City. 

Also part of his platform of governance which he discussed during the candidate’s forum include improvement of the local economy through job generation and improved market linkages to farmers and cooperatives, environmental protection, food sufficiency, and rural development.

When asked about his priority when he sits as the new governor, he said he will set the Executive-Legislative (EL) agenda for the province.

“We have EL among LGUs which I will attend on a cluster basis. After the EL of all clusters, I’ll have an EL on the province itself together with the mayors, the planners, and the budget officers of each municipality para tanan na ilang kinahanglan na wala silay kapasidad maka-complement ang probinsiya so that realistic ang atong plans (so that the province can complement what they lack so that our problems will be realistic),” Teves said.

Meanwhile, the camp of Degamo is keen on contesting the results of the elections.

The Degamo camp claimed that the other “Ruel Degamo” whose name appears in the Certified List of Candidates from the Commission Elections (COMELEC) was Grego Gaudia Degamo, and was a nuisance candidate and the votes that were cast for him must be transferred to the incumbent governor.

In a post on his Facebook Page, Degamo said “the votes cast for a nuisance candidate must be credited in favor of a legitimate candidate with a similar name to give effect to, rather than frustrate the will of the voters, even if the declaration of nuisance candidate became final only after the elections.”

“The crediting of the votes of nuisance candidates to the legitimate candidate, who have similar names, regardless whether the decision or resolution of the COMELEC became final and executory, shall be done before or after the elections. There is no need for a special proceeding for such crediting,” the governor’s post added, citing also the Santos V. COMELEC case on Sept. 4, 2018.

The post was accompanied by a resolution declaring Grego Degamo as a nuisance candidate signed by presiding officer COMELEC Commissioner Socorro B. Inting. 

The resolution came out on Dec. 16, 2021.

However, Provincial Election Supervisor Atty. Lionel Marco Castillano said his office has not received a copy of this resolution from their central office in Manila.

“Magpa-abot mi kung naa bay maabot gikan sa Manila bahin anang pagka-nuisance anang ‘RU’ na Ruel. Wala pa (mi nadawat). Ang buhatan nato mahibaw ra ana kay e-mail ra na sa amoa especially from COMELEC Manila (We will wait if there will be a document coming from Manila declaring that Ruel is a nuisance candidate. So far, we haven’t received any. We will know about it because COMELEC Manila will e-mail that to us),” Castillano said.

The COMELEC official also added that the camp of Degamo can still exercise legal remedies on this matter. (RAL/PIA7 Negros Oriental)