Singer Imelda Papin on Monday told members of the entertainment press along with her lawyer Howard Calleja that she has filed an electoral protest against former Speaker Arnulfo “Noli” Funtebella who was declared winner in the May 9 elections as representative of the fourth district of Camarines Sur.
Papin said that was robbed of votes after the counting was stopped while she was leading. “The following morning, the results were reversed and Fuentebella was leading by 740 votes,” she said
Papin filed her protest before the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal and asked for a manual recount, including the manual revision and even the count of the rejected ballots. Papin asked the tribunal for a recount to annul and set aside Fuentebella’s proclamation and declare her as the duly elected representative of Camarines Sur.
Papin also asked the tribunal to secure the ballot boxes, the list of voters and voting records, the books of voters, and other documents and paraphernalia, as well as the automated election equipment and records, such as data storage devices.
She also asked the tribunal to direct the ballot boxes containing the ballots and keys, copies of election returns, list of voters with voting records and other documents or paraphernalia to be brought to the tribunal.
Papin said that she is doing this for the people of the district of Partido, known as the Fuentebella’s fiefdom in the Bicol province.
Last year, actor Aga Muhlach ran against Fuentebella. The actor also lost.
During the press conference at Kamayan West Avenue, Papin was accompanied by Congressman-elect L-Ray Villafuerte who said that he is supporting Papin’s electoral protest as he also wants the district to become progressive.
Partido, according to Villafuerte who was once governor of Camarines Sur is the poorest town, Papin explained why she had to file the protest. “A great deal of people are aware of the many scandalous instances where counting was stopped. During the counting in Tinambac where I was leading, the CCS suddenly became inaccessible. Not only that, the SD cards could not be read, so it was sent to the main office of Smartmatic in Laguna, which provoked suspicions. The counting only resumed on May 12, where one SD card was even found to be blank by a member of our legal team. A frightful incident also happened when members of the Philippine Army and the police force from different municipalities descended on the Tinambac muncipal building and reportedly on orders of my opponent, told off the poll watchers to get out and padlocked the Comelec office, while a helicopter purportedly owned by the Fuentebellas was hovering over.”
Papin continued, “It is with conviction that I am pursuing this case and lodging a protest before the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal. Indeed, it is a crusade that we are spearheading and with God’s help and guidance as well as everyone’s prayers and support, we can overcome all obstacles and pave the way towards change and progress. With this development, I will now be in the forefront of electoral reforms and spearhead the Crusade where the true will and voice of the people will be reflected through clean, honest and credible elections.”
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Pokwang meets her in-laws-to-be
Edwin (Jeric Raval) and Wilma (Pokwang) take their love story up a notch as she meets her future in-laws in the Kapamilya afternoon series We Will Survive.
Before their wedding day, Wilma is set to face Edwin’s parents and will use her wit and charm to win their hearts. And despite being compared to her fiance’s late wife, she will do her best to prove that she is deserving of their son’s love and also worthy to be part of their family.
Meanwhile, Maricel (Melai Cantiveros), though with hesitations, will give Pocholo (Carlo Aquino) a chance to be with their son Jude (Josh De Guzman). And despite the single mother’s anger towards her former beau, Pocholo will keep on asking for forgiveness from Maricel and will continue to get her trust.
What will Wilma do to prove she is the right woman for Edwin? Will she be able to win her future in-laws’ hearts? Will Pocholo and Maricel start to mend their broken relationship?
More exciting scenes are set to surprise the viewers in We Will Survive, the teleserye that shows however ugly the world gets, there is beauty in life as long as we are together, weekdays after Tubig at Langis on ABS-CBN or on ABS-CBN HD (SkyCable ch 167). Viewers may also catch up on the program’s past episodes on iWanTV.com and onskyondemand.com.ph for Sky subscribers.
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‘Jersey Boys’ in Manila
The Tony, Olivier, and Grammy Award-winning musical is a biographical musical based on the story of the legendary American doo-wop group Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.
Considered America’s most popular singing group before The Beatles, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, alongside the Beach Boys, Motown, and Memphis soul, fought their way to the top of the music charts even during the phenomenal “Beatlemania,” The Rolling Stones, and British Invasion in the mid-60s. In 1990, the Four Seasons were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for selling over 100 million records worldwide.
Turned into a musical, Jersey Boys, is a biographical story of the 40-year-friendship of four sons of Italian immigrants in New Jersey. They went from singing on street corners in the various housing projects to singing on national television as their songs, featuring Frankie Valli’s trademark three-octave range and falsetto and a distinctive doo-wop sound, charted 24 Top-30 hits from 1962 to 1968.
Their most popular songs such as “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” “Sherry,” “Walk Like A Man,” “Working My Way Back to You,” “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You,” “My Eyes Adored You,” and “December 1963 (Oh What a Night),” defined the boomer generation who took illegal drugs, sex, rebellion, and rock and roll to a whole new level. The musical features the music by Bob Gaudio, lyrics by Bob Crewe, the Four Seasons’ record producer, and book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, who creatively present the story of the Four Seasons’ formation, meteoric rise and descent via four symbolic seasons told from different points of view.
Jersey Boys officially opened on Broadway at the August Wilson Theatre on Nov. 6, 2005.
In 2006, the show won the Tony Award for Best Musical, Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical (John Lloyd Young, who also played the role of Frankie Valli in the movie adaptation in 2014), Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical (Christian Hoff), and Best Lighting Design of a Musical (Howell Binkley). It also won Best New Musical at the 2008 Laurence Olivier Awards in London and Best Musical Show Album at the 2007 Grammy Awards. As of Sept. 22, 2015, after setting a record of at least 4,093 performances, Jersey Boys has surpassed Miss Saigon as the 12th longest-running show in Broadway history.
To date, the show has been seen by more than 23 million people worldwide and is currently playing in New York, Las Vegas, London, and in numerous cities across North America and the U.K.
In Asia, an international touring production, starring an all-South African cast, played Singapore, South Korea, and Malaysia from Nov. 2012 to April 2014.
This year, Atlantis Theatrical Entertainment Group (ATEG), which recently presented the first international production of The Bridges of Madison County and the newly re-imagined production of Saturday Night Fever, is set to premiere one of the longest-running shows on Broadway in Manila.
Tickets to Jersey Boys are now available at www.ticketword.com.ph or call Ten Bridges at 650 -5144.
