Mar: I will win by a slim margin

MANILA, Philippines - Liberal Party (LP) vice presidential candidate Sen. Manuel Roxas II finally broke his silence yesterday and said he would continue the fight against Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay of the Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino-United Opposition until the last vote is counted.

He said figures gathered by the LP showed he would win over Binay, although by “a very slim margin.”

Roxas, who celebrated his 53rd birthday yesterday, was in a jubilant mood in a press conference that he called after being quiet since Monday’s elections.

The LP estimated that Roxas would win by anywhere between 200,000 and 640,000 or two percent of the total votes cast.

Roxas said in Cebu, Iloilo and Negros Occidental alone, he was leading by 1.5 million votes over Binay and that even pollsters Pulse Asia and the Social Weather Stations (SWS) declared either him or Binay would win the elections.

Roxas noted the votes from Regions 6, 7 and 8, his bailiwicks, would give him the much-needed boost and overtake Binay.

He dismissed reports that he was junked by the camp of LP standard-bearer Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, by asking local leaders to support Binay instead of him.

He said he trusts Aquino and his support for him has remained steady.

He criticized Binay and his men for their black propaganda and conditioning the mind of the public that he had already won.

Roxas said there was no way he could rig election results in the Visayas and that their allegations were “baseless.”

He congratulated Aquino for his landslide victory and called him “chief.” He said he might be the last time for him to call Aquino “chief” because it would be “Mr. President” next time.

LP’s tally votes

LP campaign manager Florencio Abad released the LP’s tally of votes from Regions 6 and 7 where Roxas was leading by 2,182,185 votes. Roxas garnered 3,487,809 votes against Binay’s 1,305,624 in the two regions.

Abad said five towns in Antique would still have to be canvassed as well as other areas where Roxas was leading over Binay.

He said the Commission on Elections (Comelec) had so far made public only 78.5 percent of the votes transmitted electronically to the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) and 21.5 percent has yet to be counted.

He said the contest was still too close to call and that given the more than two million lead of Roxas in the Visayas, Roxas would obtain 640,000 more votes than Binay, with the two percent of the 37.5 million voter turnout.

Binay is only ahead by 800,000 votes in the current canvassing of votes by the Comelec and the PPCRV.

Former defense secretary Avelino Cruz, head of the Aquino-Roxas Bantay Balota, lashed out at the Binay camp for saying that he was seen in Mindanao after the May 10 polls and that he could be “operating” for LP.

Cruz said he had not been to Mindanao since March and that “Binay and his spokesperson, Lito Anzures, should stop spreading lies and stick to facts.”

Binay wins in exit polls

Meanwhile, Binay won in exit polls conducted by SWS and ABC 5 television as well as Pulse Asia and ABS-CBN.

In a statement, Makati Information and Community Relations Division chief Joey Salgado said Binay edged out Roxas by 2.4 percent.

Salgado said with 35,825 voters from 731 of 802 sampled polling centers all over the country, the exit polls gave Binay 40.7 percent, beating Roxas who garnered 38.3 percent.

He said the results were released in the evening of May 11.