MANILA — Re-electionist Senator Cynthia Villar has maintained her lead among the senatorial bets in the May 13 mid-term polls, with 23,610,580 votes.
Trailing Villar are fellow re-electionist Senator Grace Poe, with 20,711,849 votes; Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go, with 19,030,884; Pia Cayetano, with 18,550,012; Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, with 17,567,258; Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara, with 17,027,333; and Lito Lapid, with 15,778,223.
Rounding out the Magic 12 are Imee Marcos, with 14,775,948 votes; Francis Tolentino, with 14,387,602; Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, with 13,563,083; Nancy Binay, with 13,453,117; and Bong Revilla Jr., with 13,442,578.
The figures were based on the partial, official tally of the votes from 146 Certificates of Canvass from the Commission on Elections (Comelec) en banc, sitting as the National Board of Canvassers, as of 7:16 p.m. Friday.
On the other hand, the top 10 party-lists are: ACT-CIS, with 2,487,362 votes; Bayan Muna, with 1,065,833; Ako Bicol, with 1,038,006; Cibac, with 896,571; Ang Probinsyano, with 713,710; 1Pacman, with 678,749; All-Fish, with 601,132; Probinsyano Ako, with 588,682; Marino, with 570,101; and Senior Citizens, with 489,625.
Meanwhile, four party-list groups have asked the Comelec to cancel and/or suspend the proceedings for the canvassing of votes for party-list representatives, and/or defer the proclamation of those who have obtained the threshold number of votes until the issues that have arisen during the conduct of the mid-term polls have been resolved.
In a nine-page, manifestation and urgent motion, party-lists Append, Partido Lakas ng Masa, Murang Kuryente, and Ang Nars also asked the Comelec to grant them access to the automated election system generated or related data of the May 13 elections.
“It is our considered view that while pre-proclamation contest is generally now allowed, the existing elections laws carved out certain exceptions, such as any discrepancies and manifest errors in the certificate of canvass, and on questions affecting the compositions or proceedings of the board of canvassers,” the petition read.
“The technical glitches that were duly reported and documented, and in some instances, admitted by the Comelec, bring to fore questions on the machines-generated and transmitted election returns and certificate of canvass. Discrepancies and manifest errors in the certificate of canvass may have arisen as a result of these technical glitches,” it added.
Earlier, the poll body said it has recorded several issues that delayed the canvassing of votes, mainly the defective Secure Digital (SD) cards numbering at least 1,600, and the malfunction of nearly 1,000 vote-counting machines (VCMs).
The Comelec, however, noted that the problems have been resolved as the cards and VCMs have been replaced.