MANILA, Philippines - With unassailable leads in the official count, six senatorial candidates were proclaimed last night by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) as winners in last Monday’s elections.
The Comelec dismissed a petition of the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) seeking to suspend the proclamation of the winning senatorial candidates because of alleged discrepancies in election results.
Based on 76 percent of the votes tallied in the unofficial Comelec count as of 8:40 last night, independent candidate Grace Poe-Llamanzares topped the election.
She was followed by re-electionist Senators Loren Legarda, Alan Peter Cayetano and Francis Escudero of Team PNoy; Nancy Binay of UNA, and Juan Edgardo Angara also of the administration team.
Binay, daughter of Vice President Jejomar Binay, was conspicuously absent during the ceremony held at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC).
Her staff said her absence was not a sign of protest, but she preferred to wait for the proclamation of all 12 candidates based on the total tally, including the 30 percent of votes – about 11 million – that have not yet been transmitted.
Binay, however, thanked the Comelec for proclaiming her as a winner. She did not attend the ceremony in support of UNA’s call to suspend the proclamation.
The names of the winning candidates were called out in alphabetical order. They were then given their certificates.
Poe was called last but she got the loudest cheers from the crowd. She was accompanied by her mother, actress Susan Roces, her husband and three children.
Escudero feigned surprise when his girlfriend, actress Heart Evangelista, went up front and posed with him for photographs.
Movie producer Lily Monteverde, who had supported and campaigned for most of the winning candidates, also attended the event.
Cayetano received his certificate along with his wife, newly proclaimed Taguig Mayor Lani Cayetano.
No authority
Comelec proclaimed the top six candidates last night based on 69 percent of the transmitted election returns.
With only 72 out of the more than 300 certificates of canvass (COCs) tallied, the Comelec as National Board of Canvassers (NBOC) decided to proclaim the top six winning candidates.
The poll body explained the standings of the top six candidates would not be affected even if all the results have been counted.
Comelec though admitted the slow pace of transmission of results might affect the standing of the six remaining candidates.
Lawyers of re-electionist Sen. Gregorio Honasan, who is currently floating between 12th and 13th place with former senator Richard Gordon, made a last ditch effort to delay last night’s proclamation and asked the Comelec to wait for the remaining uncanvassed votes before proceeding with the proclamation.
Romulo Macalintal said Comelec rules provide that proclamation of the winning candidates would only proceed after all the certificates of canvass (COCs) have been tallied.
“There is no showing that canvass of COCs have been completed. Neither is there any final printout of canvass reports duly certified by watchers,†Macalintal said.
He said the NBOC has no authority to make a partial proclamation on mere assumption that the remaining number of uncanvassed votes would not materially affect the standing of the candidates to be proclaimed.
Poll watchdog National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) pointed out that some 10 million votes remain untransmitted and uncounted.
Namfrel secretary-general Aric Alvia said these votes would adversely affect the rankings of the other candidates, particularly those from tenth to 12th places.
Alvia noted the count was stuck at 69 percent.
“In the past days, we can see that the count has been stuck at 69 percent. So in the national level, this will affect the slots from 9th to 15th,†Alvia said.
He added that at the pace the results were being transmitted, they see a 20- to 25-day period for the Comelec to count all the votes.
Comelec, however, said there is no basis to delay the proclamation, saying UNA failed to prove allegations of discrepancy in the elections.
Comelec defended the seemingly slow transmission of election results.
“The current rate of transmission to the NBOC is normal and regular and even considerably faster than the 2010 elections which took two days to start the canvassing,†the Comelec said.
No problem
Malacañang, however, sees no problem with the way Comelec delayed the proclamation of the winning senatorial candidates, saying the poll body has its reasons for the slow canvass.
“We would leave it with Chairman Brillantes. I think they have been in the process of explaining why... But they promised, I understand, that they are going to proclaim,†presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said.
Any further delay will not be a problem, Lacierda said, and this will not diminish the credibility of the elections.
He said there has been a general assessment that the elections were credible.
“Compared to previous elections, it has been very orderly,†Lacierda said.
But the administration Team PNoy is worried that the delays in the transmission of election returns might have significant impact.
“We do not want the public to question the integrity of the electoral process. We hope that the root causes of such delays will be addressed immediately,†Team PNoy campaign manager Sen. Franklin Drilon said.
Poll watchdog Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) said they wanted an explanation from Brillantes for the slow transmission of election returns that also hindered their unofficial parallel count.
PPCRV chair Henrietta de Villa said they would also ask Comelec to reconsider a proposal to stop the publication of further transmission of results in view of the last night’s partial proclamation.
‘Ate Loren’ Loren Legarda, on her way to starting her last term as a senator, welcomed the entry of younger individuals in the Senate, and said she is more
than willing to impart her experiences to the young blood, just as her predecessors did when she fi rst entered the Senate in 1998.
“I’m willing to be their ate (older sister), wag naman nanay (not their mother, please), and to really share my knowledge, programs, advocacies and legislation,†Legarda said during a briefi ng held at the Team PNoy headquarters in Makati City yesterday.
She also batted for recycling of campaign materials as she instructed her staff and supporters to clean up and gather her campaign materials. –Mayen Jaymalin, Marvin Sy, Rainier Allan Ronda, Delon Porcalla, Aurea Calica