Provincial Elections Officer Jessie Suarez yesterday said he has forwarded to the COMELEC Law Department the complaint filed by Congressman-elect Genaro Alvarez Jr. against the Kabankalan City civil registrar, two principals, and two poll tabulators for allegedly increasing the votes of his opponent in the last election.

It will be up to the Law Department to decide whom to assign to conduct the preliminary investigation on the complaint of Alvarez, Suarez said.

The preliminary investigation could be assigned to me or the COMELEC regional director, he said.

Alvarez won the sixth congresional seat with 70,150 votes, while his opponents Jesus Manuel Dabao had 46, 341 votes and George Lopez had 1,685. Named in the complaints filed by Alvarez were members of the Kabankalan City Board of Canvassers sub canvassing committee -Roger Gasataya, the city civil registrar and not the city assessor as earlier reported, and principals Bernadin Bendo and Socia Coca, and tabulators Nick Reyes and Hilda Ducanes, Alvarez said.

In his complaint lodged before the COMELEC, Alvarez said that the City Board of Canvassers sub-canvassing committee members and the two tabulators willfully and feloniously increased the votes received by Dabao by 998 in direct violation of Republic Act 6646 (Election Code).*CPG

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