Chapter 15. Elections of 1928
Although the election in 1907 between Sr. Ricardo Gonzaga and Sr. Leon Montinola was an interesting story, another election, held on June 5, 1928, was more like a nail-biter.
During those elections, Sr. Vicente Ditching ran against Sr. Esteban Jalandoni. When all the votes were counted, Sr. Jalandoni won by 12 votes. Jalandoni received 342 votes while Ditching got 330, according to the Arellano Law Foundation website.
And since Sr. Ditching couldn't believe he lost, he filed an election protest that reached the courts. But it was the arguments on the votes that were as interesting as the final tally.
In those days, education was scarce and some people were illiterate or could hardly read or write. But votes for Sr. Jalandoni, where his name on the ballots was written as "Aslaben Ahanla" and "Baslian Jalandoni", and even "Sitiban Jaladu" because the last syllable was missing as there was no space left on the side of the ballot, were all counted for Sr. Esteban Jalandoni because of the legal doctrine idem sonans that says a person's identity is known even if his name is misspelled. (See? I just learned something new from a Victoriahanon electoral case 90 years ago.)😊
The court decided for Jalandoni who had 338 votes, compared to Ditching's 337. Given a few votes were deemed disqualified, the total of 675 ballots for a 1928 Victorias election tells us how small the voting population was. And I also wonder whether illiterate people were allowed to vote considering they might not have known how to write.
Today, in 2019, Victorias City has 62,725 voters, compared to less than 700 in 1928.
I wonder what was an election campaign like back then. Did they vote according to conscience, or according to cash?😃
Chapter 16. Don Felix Montinola y Lozada, mayor from 1934 to 1940
Complete blog history: "Ang Kasaysayan sang Victorias"
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