Vice Governor Peter Cua, Governor Joseph Cua and the latter’s son, Joshua Chino, have filed separate election protests against their rivals before the Regional Trial Court, alleging irregularities in the recent local elections and seeking a manual recount of the ballots.
In his petition, the vice governor also asked for the review or examination of all election documents, the Election Day Computerized Voters’ List (EDCVL), Books of Voters and other documents or paraphernalia used in the election, as well as data storage devices and audit log reports.
The protest claimed that the examination of the documents and devices would expose the massive manipulation of votes that greatly prejudiced the protestant, who lost by a mere 362 votes to Governor-elect Patrick Alain Azanza.
It challenged Azanza’s election by proclaiming that the total number of ballots counted exceeded the number of votes garnered by the four candidates for governor by 12,772 votes.
This number, the protest stated, represents a huge number of the registered voters of Catanduanes whose true will may have been unduly disenfranchised due to the non-accounting of the votes they cast.
The Cua camp also claimed that the total number of voters tallied by their watchers stationed in the voting precincts was comparatively less than the ballots actually counted, with at least 208 more ballots compared to voters actually observed to have voted in several precincts.
It likewise cited accounts of poll watchers who said the recorded number of scanned ballots by the Automated Counting Machines (ACMs) were more than the actual number of voters in some precincts, with the discovery duly recorded in the minutes of the Board of Election Inspector (BEI).
This incident poses serious doubt as to the accuracy and ability of the ACMs to count all the votes of the electorate, to safeguard the ballots inside and the integrity of its security feature in preventing any person from inserting any document in the ballot box, it stressed.
The protest also includes as evidence the affidavits from poll watchers who reported widespread malfunctioning of ACMS which disrupted the voting process in several precincts.
On the other hand, it mentioned the account of a voter who allegedly monitored an unusual and disproportionate reduction of about 2,000 votes from Cua’s total at 3 AM at the vote count posted on the COMELEC Livestream on Meta on May 13, 2025.
On the same day, the Municipal Board of Canvassers of Viga was unable to receive results from 32 clustered precincts due to the wrong IP address it was using, the petition stated, with the incident casting serious doubts on the integrity of transmitted data and in the election results it produced.
In Baras, the protest claimed, a poll watcher reported that a voter who voted for partylist number 22 was dismayed to see from the Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) that the voter was counted for number 23, with the incident recorded in the BEI minutes.
It also claimed that one of the poll watchers of the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP) was a barangay tanod, a person prohibited from being a poll watcher and being inside polling precincts except when voting.
Vice Gov. Cua asked the Court to safeguard the ballot boxes and election documents for all 365 clustered precincts in the 11 towns, conduct a manual recount of the ballots and upon finding sufficient cause, direct COMELEC to hold in abeyance the oathtaking of the protestee until the final resolution of the case.
On the other hand, both Gov. Cua and his son Chino have filed similar protests asking for the recount of votes cast for Virac mayor and for members of the Sangguniang Bayan.
It may be recalled that Cua was defeated by former Mayor Sinforoso Sarmiento Jr. by an overwhelming margin of more than 7,000 votes while his son fell short in the race for council seats, placing 10th among 15 aspirants.
Chino Cua protested the results obtained by nine candidates ahead of him in the final tally of votes.
Similar to the protest in the gubernatorial race, both Virac protests cited the same grounds on mismatched vote totals, “uncounted” votes and malfunctioning ACMs, also alleged instances of voter intimidation, vote-buying before or during election day.
The other four candidates who filed separate election protests are Bato mayoral candidate Princess Vanessa Rodriguez who lost by a mere eight votes to incumbent Juan Rodulfo, former San Andres Mayor Leo Mendoza who was trounced by former Mayor Aly Romano, Pandan Mayor Raul Tabirara who lost to former Mayor Honesto Tabligan II by 41 votes, and Viga councilor candidate Salvador Tarraya II who protested the victory of 8th placer Kenneth Francis Odi.