TRECE MARTIRES CITY, Cavite – Cavite Board Member Crispin Diego “Pinggoy” Remulla is the new representative in Congress for Cavite’s 7th District after he emerged as the winner in the special election held last Saturday.

The 7th District of Cavite is composed of the municipalities of Indang, Amadeo, Tanza and this city.

Remulla was proclaimed yesterday morning by Cavite provincial election supervisor attorney Mico Morales-Castro, Provincial Board of Canvassers chairman and Prosecutor Vivian Rojo, and Dr. Rommel Bautista, PBoC secretary, at the Sangguniang Panglunsod Plenary Hall inside the Cavite Provincial Capitol.

Remulla replaced his father, Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla, who was appointed Justice Secretary by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. shortly after the May polls last year, resulting in the vacancy.

The younger Remulla, who was the 7th District provincial Board member before his poll victory, garnered 98,474 votes, beating former Trece Martires City mayor Melencio De Sagun (46,530), Lito Aguinaldo (1,610) and Mike Santos (1,068).

The total turnout of votes represented 42.11 percent or 149,581 counted votes out of 355,184 registered voters.

On election day, Remulla was accompanied by his wife, Georgia, and father in casting their votes at Tambo Malake Elementary School in Indang.

In an interview, he said they accomplished much during the campaign for he got to know many of his “kababayans” in the district.

However, he refused to comment when asked by the media about the disqualification case filed against him by De Sagun, saying he had yet to receive a copy of the complaint.

The disqualification case filed on February 23 stemmed from the Trece Martires local government unit’s social media post, where he joined a social services event during the campaign period, which, De Sagun claimed, was a clear violation of the election code.

“It is very premature to conclude at this early stage, but we promise to take a deeper investigation for the filed disqualification case,” said Comelec chair George Garcia, a native of Indang.

SPECIAL ELECTION GENERALLY PEACEFUL

The conduct of the special election in the 7th District of Cavite was generally peaceful according to reports from the Trece Martires City Police Station, Indang Municipal Police Station, Amadeo and Tanza Municipal Police Stations.

Cavite Police Provincial Office Director Col. Christopher F. Olazo said 688 police personnel and 56 from the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine Coast Guard were deployed in Amadeo, Tanza, Indang and Trece Martires City to ensure a safe, secure and peaceful election.

Olazo said with the guidance of Police Regional Office 4A Director Brig. Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr., Cavite was placed under full alert status to ensure operational readiness of all units and stations to address any eventualities that may arise during the conduct of the special poll.

“Overall, there were no recorded untoward incidents related to the special election and no reported or seized any kind of deadly weapons,” said Olazo. By Dennis Abrina, Philippine News Agency