TACLOBAN CITY – The Provincial Board of Canvassers of Leyte has formally proclaimed Carlos Jericho ‘Icot’ Petilla as governor-elect and Sandy Javier as vice governor-elect following the successful conduct of the recent midterm elections.
The board, chaired by Leyte elections supervisor Ma. Goretti Caseñas-Cañas proclaimed them on Tuesday, May 13, just a day after the election was conducted.
Petilla, who will be serving on his second term garnered 625,784 votes while Javier, who was unopposed, obtained 536,027 votes.
House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, who secured a fresh mandate as representative of Leyte’s 1st district, was also proclaimed on that same day and amassed 177,485 votes.
Also proclaimed were reelected district representatives Karen Javier (2nd), Anna Tuazon (3rd), and Carl Cari (5th).
Members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (provincial board) from various districts, except the 4th district, were also proclaimed: 1st district: Wilson S. Uy and Atty. Ronnan Christian Reposar;2nd district: Raissa Villasin and Mildred Joy Que; 3rd district: Marie Kathryn Veloso and Alan Ang; and 5th district: Michael Cari and Carlo P. Loreto.
For the 4th district, Representative Richard Gomez was officially proclaimed on Wednesday, following the earlier proclamation of incumbent board member Ivan Centino and incoming board member Rico Codilla.
In a post-proclamation interview, Governor-elect Petilla expressed his gratitude to the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) for deploying uniformed personnel across the province to ensure a peaceful and orderly election.
“I thank the DILG for mobilizing the police, the Army, and other law enforcement units to maintain peace and security in our province before, during, and after the elections,” Petilla said.
He credited the peaceful conduct of the elections to the coordinated efforts of security forces and election officials.
(LIZBETH ANN A. ABELLA)
