The Regional Trial Court of Infanta, Quezon, has issued a decision on the outcome of the manual recount of mayoralty votes in Jomalig, Quezon.

After learning that Mayor Nelmar Sarmiento had lost the manual recount filed by former Mayor Rodel Espiritu, supporters flocked to the municipality.

Sarmiento was declared the winner of the May 2022 election with only 13 votes, defeating then-incumbent Mayor Espiritu, who received only 2,151 votes.

This was unacceptable to Espiritu, so he filed an election protest in the Regional Trial Court.

His argument is that there were numerous voting irregularities, such as the vote counting machines failing to spit out the ballots and the vote for Espiritu not being read by the VCM.

Espiritu appeared to have won the manual recount by 18 votes.

As a result, Infanta RTC Branch 65 Judge Raymund Joseph Sorogon issued a decision nullifying Sarmiento’s proclamation as the winning mayor of Jomalig.

Simultaneously, Espiritu was declared the true winner. The court also ordered Sarmiento to resign and hand over management to Espiritu.

Sarmiento’s camp filed an appeal, so Espiritu is still unable to sit.

Sarmiento begged his supporters to remain calm.

“Sa mga nakikisawsaw, nagpapahayag ng kanilang damdamin na nagdudulot rin ng kaguluhan, relax lang kayo. May tamang proseso, may Panginoon, may Diyos, magsasabi, magtatakda kung sino ba talaga ang karapat-dapat nanalo noong nakaraang halalan. Pabayaan niyo ang lugar namin ay maging mapayapa,” Sarmiento stated.

Sarmiento assured that he is still the mayor and that he can do his job while they appeal the court’s decision.