Arroyo retakes lead in canvass

It has been a see-saw battle so far between President Arroyo and opposition front-runner Fernando Poe Jr. as canvassing of votes entered the sixth day yesterday.

Mrs. Arroyo regained her lead at the last minute, overtaking Poe by 27,262 votes.

As this developed, the certificate of canvass (COC) from Camarines Norte earlier reported missing from its ballot box last June 2 turned up in the province’s second ballot box during yesterday’s canvassing.

As of 8:25 last night, Mrs. Arroyo garnered 978,913 votes against Poe’s 951,651. Independent presidential candidate Sen. Panfilo Lacson came in third with 254, 563 votes followed by Eddie Villanueva with 148,349. Former education secretary Raul Roco brought up the rear with 131,880 votes.

In the vice presidential race, administration Sen. Noli de Castro tallied 1,174,166 votes, overtaking opposition Sen. Loren Legarda with 1,136,056 votes. Poe earlier regained his lead from Mrs. Arroyo from the total of 75 COCs canvassed. Just the other day Mrs. Arroyo edged out Poe, enjoying a slim lead of 7,160. But yesterday’s canvassing of 10 COCs saw Poe, the opposition Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino (KNP) standard-bearer, closing in.

Earlier, at 5:20 p.m. Poe overtook Mrs. Arroyo with votes from Zambales and La Union, giving him 146, 874 and 169,415 votes, respectively.

During the canvassing, joint committee co-chairman Deputy Speaker Raul Gonzalez announced Senate President Franklin Drilon received a letter from the Camarines Norte election officer, furnishing the committee with official and certified photocopies of the "missing" COCs.

When Gonzalez opened the two ballot boxes from the province following the instructions from Drilon, the missing COCs were found inside.

Drilon later explained to reporters that Camarines Norte had two ballot boxes – 80 and 80-A – and when the first ballot box was opened, it was found empty. The second was unlocked and only a statement of votes in an envelope was found.

He said the page who unlocked the ballot box might have panicked as the lawmakers were already getting hysterical and failed to notice that there was another document inside.