Proclamation of senators, party-lists postponed as Comelec awaits votes from Washington

TUESDAY’S SUPPOSED proclamation of winners for senators and party-list groups was postponed by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) as canvassing of election returns (ER) was still ongoing.

Comelec Spokesperson James B. Jimenez, in a press briefing on Tuesday, said, “Today is not the day. We are currently canvassing the returns from KSA (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) and we are awaiting the returns of Washington DC because they represent more than 200,000 registered voters.”

The Washington votes were expected late Tuesday.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the Comelec was still waiting for one certificate of canvass (COC) that the National Board of Canvassers (NBOC) has yet to tally. 166 out of 167 COCs have already been included in the canvass by the NBOC.

Mr. Jimenez said there is still no new date for the proclamation.

As of 8 p.m. Monday, the partial official results of the NBOC canvassing representing 165 COCs: 1. Cynthia A. Villar — 25, 215, 678; 2. Grace Poe-Llamanzares — 21, 981, 275; 3. Christopher Lawrence “Bong” T. Go — 20, 579, 811; 4. Pilar Juliana “Pia” S. Cayetano — 19, 719, 629; 5. Ronald “Bato” M. Dela Rosa — 18, 922, 017; 6. Juan Edgardo “Sonny” M. Angara — 18, 110, 367; 7. Manuel “Lito” Lapid — 16, 937, 755; 8. Maria Imelda Josefa “Imee” R. Marcos — 15, 811, 231; 9. Francis N. Tolentino — 15, 446, 517; 10. Aquilino Martin “Koko” D. Pimentel III — 14, 617, 686; 11. Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. — 14, 608, 102; and 12. Maria Lourdes “Nancy” S. Binay — 14, 484, 839.

PROBE
Meanwhile, the Makabayan bloc in the House of Representatives called for a separate and more thorough probe on the election glitches.

“(W)e will be filing resolution to that effect,” said Alliance of Concerned Teachers Party-list Rep. Antonio L. Tino in a press conference on Tuesday.

“Kailangan panagutin ang lahat ng lumabag sa mga existing election laws at sa iba’t ibang paraan ay nag-ambag sa pagdungis ng proseso ng nakaraang halalan (Everyone who did not adhere to existing election laws and contributed to staining the process of the recent elections should be held liable),” he added.

The joint congressional oversight committee on the automated elections system will conduct a hearing on June 4 over technical glitches during the midterm polls.

The Makabayan bloc said they are questioning the credibility of the elections given the cases of glitches, alleged vote buying, and electioneering against them.

Comelec reported last week that 961 vote-counting machines (VCMs) and 1,665 SD cards encountered glitches during the midterm polls.

Mr. Tino said their planned investigation will also focus on violations before the campaign period.

Anakpawis Rep. Ariel B. Casilao, for his part, said the bloc is also planning to file a case against Philippine National Police chief Gen. Oscar D. Albayalde and Armed Forces of the Philippines Assistant Deputy Chief-of-Staff Brig. Gen. Antonio G. Parlade Jr. for alleged electioneering against them.

In another press briefing, Albay 1^st District Rep. Edcel C. Lagman said: “No amount of Comelec explanation could assuage people’s suspicion that there has been some anomalous designs. The best thing to do is to avoid these preventable glitches so there will be no explanations to be made.”

PPCRV
Meanwhile, the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) has received 60.09% of all the fourth copy of the ERs they are set to validate.

Data from the PPCRV as of 12:51 a.m. Tuesday showed that it has received 51,538 out of 85,769 ERs from each clustered precinct, excluding those coming from overseas. — Gillian M. Cortez, Vince Angelo C. Ferreras, and Vann Marlo M. Villegas