The Supreme Court (SC) dismissed the petition of Pryde Henry A. Teves to regain the governorship of Negros Oriental from Roel Degamo during an en banc session on Tuesday, February 14.
The SC upheld the decision of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) en banc declaring Roel Degamo the true winner in the May 2022 polls.
Degamo, in his Facebook page, said “justice has been served to the people of Negros Oriental. To the most powerful God, thank you so much”.
The SC, in dismissing the petitions filed by Teves and Grego “Ruel” G. Degamo against respondents Commission on Elections and Roel R. Degamo, said the COMELEC en banc “did not commit grave abuse of discretion in issuing its Resolution in SPA No. 21-085 (DC) dated Sept. 1, 2022”.
The COMELEC proclaimed Degamo the duly elected governor of Negros Oriental on Oct. 3, 2022, after it declared candidate Ruel Degamo a nuisance.
The votes of the nuisance candidate that were credited to Roel Degamo gave him a total of 331,726 votes to defeat Teves who had 301,319.
Teves voluntarily stepped down as governor of Negros Oriental on Oct. 11, 2022 pending the SC ruling.*