Former Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco Jr. has ordered his political party to file a petition before the Commission on Elections to declare failure of elections in Bohol province.

Evasco, who ran for a gubernatorial post in the province, made the directive to the Nationalist People's Coalition-Bohol and Hugpong ng Pagbabago-Bohol as he accused the camp of Bohol 3rd District Rep.Arthur Yap, running for governorship, of massive vote-buying.

Based on the partial, unofficial results of the May 13 polls collated by ABS-CBN from Comelec data, Yap obtained 325,242 votes, only 3,010 votes higher than that of Evasco's 322,232 votes.

The partial, unofficial results were taken from 1,441 transmitted election returns to the Comelec or 99.44 percent out of 1,449 total clustered precincts in Bohol.

The other three gubernatorial candidates were far behind Yap and Evasco.

Evasco acknowledged that Comelec may or may not grant the petition to declare failure of elections in Bohol.

However, he said, "that is the least of my concern."

"The more important consideration is that all those who joined me in this journey will avail of the last one legal option to right an infirmed election. Until such time that this legal remedy is denied, the fight is not over," said Evasco.

"I wish I can say the people have spoken, but that would be a monumental lie. This is not my fight. It has never been. But I will fight it to my last breath because it is a fight of the Boholano people and because they deserve nothing less," he said in a statement posted on his Facebook page on May 14.

Duterte endorsed Evasco's candidacy even if Yap was the official candidate of the ruling PDP-Laban. Celerina Monte/DMS