The 311 ballot boxes containing the contested ballots in the electoral protest of Silay City mayoral candidate Jose "Oti" Montelibano were shipped to Manila at 7 last night on board the Negros Navigation vessel, Mary Queen of Peace.

This was confirmed by Montelibano, who said in a telephone interview with the DAILY STAR that it feels nice to know that the recount he had sought will finally begin.

"It's worth every second of our perseverance," he said.

He said he was informed that city election officer Salud Villanueva will fly to Manila tomorrow and wait for the arrival of the ballot boxes at 3 p.m. and bring these to the COMELEC central office.

COMELEC First Division Presiding Commissioner Resurreccion Borra and Commissioner Romeo Brawner had directed the election officer "to proceed with dispatch the collection, inventory, and transportation of the contested ballot boxes to the premises of the Commission (in Manila)" after it denied the motion of Mayor Carlo Gamban to set aside its orders for the holding of the recount of the votes.

Gamban's lawyer Rodney Rubica said in a text message to the DAILY STAR that they will just wait for next directive of the COMELEC.

We're ready for the recount process and confident that the results will remain the same, he added.

Both Montelibano and Gamban had been directed by the COMELEC First Division to submit a pool consisting of at least six persons of their respective revisors and alternate revisors plus one supervising revisor and one alternate supervising revisor for approval by the COMELEC.

Montelibano had deposited P286,183 to defray expenses for the revision of the protested precincts and other incidental expenses.

He is protesting the election and proclamation of Gamban on grounds of massive vote-padding, misappreciation and misreading of votes, and substitution of voters, among others.

He said doesn't really know the official tally of votes when Gamban was proclaimed in June 2004 but the tally of returns then showed that Gamban had 18,019 votes while Montelibano, 17,736.*NLG

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