Cynthia Villar is most voted senatorial candidate in official tally

MANILA, Philippines — Incumbent Sen. Cynthia Villar maintained her lead in the senatorial race to the very end as she emerged as the most voted senatorial bet in the official tally released by the Commission on Elections on Wednesday midnight.

Villar, who ran under the administration-backed Hugpong ng Pagbabago, garnered 25, 283,727 votes. She also ran under dominant minority party, Nacionalista Party, which she chairs.

She was followed by fellow reelectionist Sen. Gace Poe, who ran independently, with 22,029,788. Poe also consistently led the partial and unofficial tally of the Comelec and the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting.

Eight other Hugpong ng Pagbabago candidates also made it to the so-called “magic 12” while two other independent candidates, Lito Lapid and Sen. Nancy Binay also entered the winning circle.

Here are the final ranking of the senatorial race based on the official tally of the National Board of Canvassers.

• Cynthia Villar - 25, 283,727

• Grace Poe - 22,029,788

• Bong Go - 20,657,702

• Ronald dela Rosa - 19,004,225

• Sonny Angara - 18,161,862

• Lito Lapid - 16,965,464

• Imee Marcos - 15,882,628

• Francis Tolentino - 15,510,026

• Koko Pimentel - 14,668,665

• Bong Revilla - 14,624,445

• Nancy Binay - 14,504,396

In late April, Villar and Poe shared the top spot in the senatorial preference survey of Pulse Asia.

Villar, however, bumped off Poe in the senatorial preference survey of Pulse Asia conducted two weeks leading to the May 13 polls, making her the frontrunner senatorial candidate.

The 12 winning candidates will be proclaimed by the NBOC on Wednesday, nine days after the 2019 midterm elections at the Philippine International Convention Center.

NBOC finished canvassing all the 167 certificates of canvass late Tuesday with Washington DC’s COC as the last to be tallied.