THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) Davao City Board of Canvassers (CBOC) officially declared the Duterte siblings and the first district councilors as elected officials Tuesday evening, May 14, despite a school's non-transmission of election results.
The CBOC officially declared Sara Duterte-Carpio as re-elected mayor, while Sebastian "Baste" Duterte is the new vice mayor and Paolo Duterte as the new first district representative.
The declaration was made at 8:40 p.m. after a petition was filed before the poll body to lower the election threshold.
The Dutertes were a no-show during the proclamation. The Duterte brothers were represented by lawyer Eduardo Legaspina, while lawyer Warren Leung represented the mayor.
Baste posted a simple thank you message on his Facebook account.
"Daghang Salamat sa tanan. (with a heart emoji) #VM," the younger Duterte said. He ran unopposed and garnered 558,128 votes.
Political returnee and newly elected first district representative Paolo said he is "humbled and at the same time honored" for the trust to represent his constituent in Congress.
"Makalaom kamo nga ako dili lamang inyong tingog ug kusog sa Kongreso kundili kaabag usab ni President Rody Duterte aron makab-ot niini ang iyang mga plano ug pangandoy para sa nasud (I will not only serve as your voice in Congress but also give my full support to President Rodrigo Duterte to make sure his plans are fulfilled)," Duterte said.
Paolo outshined his independent opponents Susan Uyanguren and Rex Labis with 197,370 votes, while the remaining two only garnered 5,135 and 2,124, respectively.
While she has not posted a message of her continuing on as mayor of the city, Duterte-Carpio posted on her Instagram account her gratitude to the Dabawenyos after the results showed that all 12 Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HNP)-endorsed candidates dominated in the partial and unofficial result from the Comelec in Davao City.
As of 2 p.m. Wednesday, May 15, based on the 100 percent election returns in the city, candidates Christopher "Bong" Go, Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa, Pia Cayetano, Cynthia Villar, Francis Tolentino, Edgardo "Sonny" Angara, Imee Marcos, JV Ejercito, Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III, Dong Mangudadatu, Ramon "Bong" Revilla Jr., and Jinggoy Estada were part of the Magic 12 slate.
Duterte-Carpio said she was overwhelmed with the support Dabawenyos poured to her party's senatorial candidates.
"I am not a person who cries easily but when it was definite that Davao City delivered a 12-0 vote for Senators of HNP, the tears flowed and the sobbing followed. A first in our City's history," she said on her IG post Tuesday morning, May 14.
Duterte-Carpio will now enter her second consecutive term as city mayor, after garnering 580,440 votes against independent candidate Jun Marcellones with only 4,270 votes.
Meanwhile, First District elected councilors Mabel Sunga Acosta, Melchor Quitain Jr., Kap Ibuyan, Bonifacio Militar, Nilo Abellera, Pilar Braga, Pamela Librado and Jessica Bonguyan were also proclaimed in Tuesday evening, May 14.
Before the proclamation, 99.92 percent canvassed votes were transmitted, resulting in the petition for the immediate declaration.
The Davao City National High School (DCNHS) was the lone school that failed to transmit its election results due to a malfunctioned SD card of the vote counting machine (VCM).
Krisna Samantha Caballero, Comelec-Davao chair of CBOC, said DCNHS transmitted its results early yesterday morning, May 14.
But she said the remaining estimated 400 votes out of the estimated 700 registered voters will not have any bearing in the election results.
Earlier, councilors and representatives of the second and third districts were already proclaimed.