Comelec proclaims Roberto Uy Jr. as Zamboanga del Norte 1st district representative

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 10) —The Commission on Election (Comelec) on Friday proclaimed Roberto ‘Pinpin’ Uy Jr. as representative of the first legislative district of Zamboanga del Norte.

The move was in line with the Supreme Court ruling in August that invalidated Comelec's proclamation of Romeo Jalosjos Jr. The high court declared Uy as winner of the 2022 congressional race saying the poll body’s previous decision was issued with «grave abuse of discretion.»

“Ito na po it’s my honor at na-proclaim na po talaga ang tunay na panalo. So masaya po ako, pasalamat po ako sa Comelec na nirespeto nila ang desisyon ng Korte Suprema,” Uy told reporters after his proclamation.

[Translation: It’s an honor to finally be proclaimed as the real winner. I’m happy and thankful to the Comelec for respecting the decision of the Supreme Court.]

He also vowed to work double time to serve his constituents and make up for the lost time.

House Majority Leader Mannix Dalipe was named caretaker of the first district of Zamboanga del Norte in November last year.

Uy was not proclaimed in May despite garnering the most votes (69,591) in the congressional race in the 2022 elections.

He won against Romeo Jalosjos Jr., Frederico ‘Kuya Jan’ Jalosjos and Richard Amazon, who received 69,109 votes, 5,424 votes, and 288 votes, respectively.

However, the Comelec proclaimed R. Jalosjos as the winner after it declared F. Jalosjos as a nuisance candidate and credited all his votes to R. Jalosjos.

It gave R. Jalosjos a slim victory in the 2022 polls.

Uy questioned this decision before the Supreme Court since his proclamation was suspended.

The Supreme Court issued an order in July to stop Romeo Jalosjos Jr. from assuming the congressional post a few weeks after he took office.

The court said it found that Comelec’s decision to tag F. Jalosjos as a nuisance candidate is solely based on the alleged erroneous use of a nickname without considering his membership in a political party and the clear difference in their names on the official ballots.

Comelec spokesperson Rex Laudiangco explained why the proclamation was done nearly three months after the SC decision came out.

“Bagama