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Tuesday, June 05, 2007
10 senatorial winners to be proclaimed Wednesday
MANILA -- The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will proclaim on Wednesday the top 10 winners in the senatorial race.
"Only 10 in the meantime because ang natitirang boto pa (the remaining votes) to be reckoned with are 1.4 million," said Comelec Chairman Benjamin Abalos.
Pinoy Votes: Sun.Star Election 2007 Coverage
View here the list of local winners
Abalos said the votes of the top 10 candidates are already secured and could no longer be affected by the remaining four certificates of canvass (COCs) that have not been tabulated by the National Board of Canvassers (NBOC).
The four COCs are from Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Surigao del Norte, and Maguindanao.
Abalos said they have already sent invitations to the 10 senators for their proclamation. They are Genuine Opposition (GO) candidates Loren Legarda, Francis Escudero, Panfilo Lacson, Manuel Villar, independent candidate Francis
Pangilinan, Benigno Simeon Aquino III of GO, Edgardo Angara of Team Unity (TU), Alan Peter Cayetano (GO), Joker Arroyo (TU), and independent candidate Gregorio Honasan, who is occupying the 10th place.
Abalos said there is no need for GO candidate Antonio Trillanes IV to appear personally in the proclamation rites. "You can proclaim even without the presence (of the candidate to be proclaimed)," Abalos said.
But he said the proclamation of Trillanes would have to be deferred until he is able to get a sustainable lead against the 13th and 14th candidates, namely, Juan Miguel Zubiri and Ralph Recto of TU, who are in the 13th and 14th positions.
Sixto Brillantes, opposition lead counsel, said they might file the "necessary pleading before the court" once Trillanes's proclamation is set.
Abalos said after the proclamation of the top 10 senators, they are expecting to proclaim within the week the 11th and 12th winners and they may be Trillanes and fellow GO candidate Aquilino Pimentel III.
Trillanes has a total of 10,922,164 votes so far while Pimentel has 10,638,470 votes. Trailing behind Pimentel is Zubiri with 10,511,322 votes and Recto in 14th place with 10,228,204 votes.
Brillantes said they go along with the Comelec's decision not to proclaim the 11th and 12th candidates because of the sizeable number of votes involved in the four COCs that have yet to be canvassed.
According to Abalos, they are expecting the arrival of the COCs from Lanao del Sur and Surigao del Norte on Wednesday. Should the results of the canvassing on Wednesday give Trillanes a big lead over his rivals, they might decide to include him in the proclamation as well. (MSN/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Baguio. (June 5, 2007 issue)
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