by Leonardo Micua
ROSALES, Pangasinan — Vice Mayor John Isaac Kho said he remains in office despite a November 24, 2025 decision of Branch 53 of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) reversing the May 12, 2025 vice mayoral election results and declaring Susan Casareno the winner.
Kho said he has asked the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to intervene and issue a writ of injunction to stop enforcement of the ruling that would unseat him.
Kho was earlier proclaimed winner with 20,201 votes against Casareno’s 18,730, a margin of 1,208 votes. However, after Casareno filed an election protest and a manual recount was conducted, she was credited with 20,705 votes over Kho’s 18,730.
In its ruling, RTC Judge Roselyn Andrada-Borja said the automated counting machines failed to accurately read and count votes, noting that some Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) receipts did not match the ballots cast.
Kho questioned the decision, saying it undermines the credibility of the 2025 automated elections and contradicts Comelec Chairman George Garcia’s statement that the polls achieved a 99.997 percent accuracy rate.
He also alleged ballot tampering and substitution, citing 106 additional votes credited to Casareno without matching VVPAT receipts, as well as reported irregularities such as mismatched signatures, misaligned Comelec logos, paper color discrepancies, and phantom marks.
Kho sought the decryption and printing of ballot images stored in the automated counting machines’ secure data devices to compare digital images with physical ballots, but the court denied his motion.
He called on Rosales residents to support his legal battle, saying the integrity of the elections and democracy is at stake.