Incumbents ahead in south

Majority of incumbent local officials seeking a fresh mandate in southern Metro Manila are ahead in the official counting being conducted by the Commission on Elections.

Mayors Jejomar Binay of Makati City, Sigfrido Tinga of the municipality of Taguig, Wenceslao Trinidad of Pasay City, and Rosendo Capco of Pateros are on top of the mayoralty race with comfortable margins over their closest rivals.

As of 6 p.m. yesterday, Binay is leading the mayoralty race in Makati City with 8,557 votes. His closest rival, Oscar Ibay, received 2,387 votes.

The votes cast in the financial capital of the country only constitute 84 out of the 1,835 election returns in both districts.

In Taguig, Tinga garnered 1,153 votes as of 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, while his closest rival Ferdinand Quilitano had 588.

Each of the two other mayoralty candidates, Loida Labao Alzona and Rene Casas, received single-digit votes.

The votes cast in Taguig constitute only six out of the 1,511 polling precincts.

In Pateros, Capco is leading the mayoralty race in 41 out of 176 precincts with 2,355 votes as of 10 p.m. Tuesday. His closest rival, Willie Buenaventura, received 1,619 votes.

In Muntinlupa City, re-electionist Mayor Jaime Fresnedi is also ahead over his closest rival, Elizabeth Masangkay.

In Parañaque City, Alma Moreno, estranged wife of Parañaque City Mayor Joey Marquez, is behind in the race, which is expected to be hotly contested by former mayor Pablo Olivarez and Vice Mayor Jun Bernabe.

As of 10 p.m. Tuesday, Olivarez had 3,815 votes, Bernabe received 3,193 while Moreno had 1,703 votes.

In the vice mayoralty race in the same city, comedian and incumbent Councilor Anjo Yllana is pulling away from his rivals with an almost 200 percent advantage over his rivals. –Edu Punay