ZAMBOANGA CITY – Following his terrible defeat in the midterm polls, former congressman Celso Lobregat has not conceded and accepted that he lost the mayoralty election against incumbent and more popular Maria Isabelle Climaco Salazar.
Lobregat, who ruled Zamboanga for two decades as mayor and congressman, filed an electoral protest with the Commission on Elections in May 23 and claiming alleged irregularities and fraud, among others for his defeat.
And he wanted the poll body to declare him winner in the May 13 elections despite Salazar’s overwhelming victory against him. Salazar won with over 30,000 votes against Lobregat and the Board of Canvassers declared her the winner in the polls with an overwhelming 146,079 votes as against Lobregat’s 112,343 votes.
Now, Lobregat said he included members of the Board of Canvassers – lawyers Jan Christian Babiera, Ricardo Cabaron and Arman Faustino, Felix Triambulo – along with Salazar as respondents in his electoral protest.
Lobregat, who was never defeated in his entire political career, said the results of the elections were “unbelievable,” saying his family – from his grandfather Pablo Lorenzo, was once Mayor of Zamboanga and a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1934 to his mother, Maria Clara who also served as mayor and congresswoman – served the city well.
Jomar, Lobregat’s younger brother, also ran twice in the polls since 2013 as congressman in District 2 and the same position in District 1, but he too lost terribly. In 1984, Lobregat’s mother also lost to Salazar’s grandfather Cesar Climaco in the mayoralty race.
Salazar strongly denied all Lobregat’s accusations and told the 71-year old politician to accept defeat and respect the “true” will of the people. The 52-year old mayor, popularly known here as “Beng Climaco,” also cited historical statistical data to prove her victory was beyond any doubt.
She said her victory over Lobregat was a clear indication of the strong support of the people for her third term. Salazar, an educator and guidance counsellor for children and family affairs, said the results of the 2019 polls mirrored the 2004 local elections.
In both elections, Salazar said she received more than 140,000 votes as vice mayor, while Lobregat got a little over 113,000 as mayor for first term. And Salazar said when she ran for her first term as mayor in 2013, she garnered 174,725 votes; in 2016 for second term she had 175,599 votes; and in 2004, when she ran for vice mayor, she received 140,225 votes.
She said in comparison, Lobregat got only 113,447 votes in 2004 when he ran for mayor on his first term; and 110,867 votes in 2007 for his second term, and 118,227 votes in 2010 for his third term.
Even in congressional races, Salazar said she outperformed Lobregat by as much as 11,000 votes. “There is no historical evidence that suggests Lobregat is more popular than I, but there is overwhelming evidence that I am a more popular candidate than him,” Salazar said.
During the campaign period, Lobregat claimed that 78 of Zamboanga’s 98 village chieftains were supporting his candidacy and he even came out with a signed manifesto and published in two local dailies. But Salazar eventually won in 78 villages while Lobregat managed to win only in 20 villages. (The Zamboanga Post)
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