The Commission on Elections special provincial board of canvassers (SPBOC) proclaimed former Negros Oriental Governor Roel Ragay Degamo the winner of the 2022 gubernatorial race at the Comelec headquarters in Manila on Monday morning, October 3.
“Finally justice is served”, Degamo said following his proclamation.
The SPBOC in its updated certificate of canvass Monday said Degamo obtained 331,726 votes, while his closest opponent Gov. Pryde Henry Teves got 301,319 votes.
The Comelec en banc nullified the May proclamation of Teves as governor of Negros Occidental after affirming an earlier resolution declaring a near namesake of Degamo as a nuisance candidate.
The Comelec Second Division declared Ruel Degamo, whose real name is Grego Gaudia, a nuisance candidate in December 2021, but without a final Comelec en banc ruling in May, his name remained on the official ballot.
The Comelec en banc writ of execution directed the SPBOC to credit the 49,039 votes obtained by Ruel Degamo in favor of Roel Ragay Degamo who garnered 277, 462 votes in the May 9 polls.
Teves could not be reached for comment on Monday.
However, in a radio interview posted on his Facebook page “Negrosanon Palanggaon” two days earlier, Teves said he will respect whatever decisions the Supreme Court, Comelec, or the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) make.
He has no intention of staging a rally or setting up a barricade at the Capitol, Teves said.
“If the DILG enforces it and tells me to step down, I will not stay a day longer. If the Supreme Court comes in and rules in their favor, I will not stay a day longer,” he said.*