by Isabella Magno

A day after the #Halalan2022, several areas in the Philippines proclaimed the winners of their local elections. 

In the National Capital Region Region, its 16 cities and one municipality already announced their local victors, including the re-elected Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto with 335, 851 votes, and the first-ever female Manila City Mayor Honey Lacuna, who garnered 507, 508 votes. 

Some of the other local areas that were able to proclaim their winners are Naga City, Cebu City, Surigao City, Bacolod City, Pampanga, Quezon, and Pangasinan. 

Meanwhile, former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and running-mate Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte, led the polls in both presidential and vice-presidential seats, respectively. 

Despite this, Marcos remained “unbothered” and only thanked his supporters, adding that “he does not claim victory this early.”

In line with this, Vice President Leni Robredo, who currently sits in second place in the presidential polls, addressed her supporters, saying she respects “the voice of the people”. 

Moreover, other presidential aspirants Leody De Guzman, Manila Mayor Isko Moreno, and Faisal Mangondato declared their concession in the fight. 

Further, Senate president and vice presidential candidate Vicente “Tito” Sotto and Carlos Serapio conceded from the vice presidential race. 

According to the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) Comm. Marlon Casquejo, the head of all election preparations, #Halalan2022 has the “fastest” result transmission since 2010. 

He added that this is due to enhanced contract, media server, and vote counting machine (VCM) stress testing, as well as early procurements and setup of data centers, and speedy repair of USB transmission connections.

Several people, however, thought that this speed was “suspicious,” since they had observed how malfunctioning VCMs caused voting delays in several regions around the country. 

In line with this,  the public voiced dissatisfaction with the current standing in the polls, prompting protest rallies in Cebu City, Iloilo, Intramuros, and Liwasang Bonifacio.

According to Philippine National Police officers stationed at Intramuros, about 400 people had gathered, so they prepared firetruck hosts in case the “mob” needed to be dispersed. 

Meanwhile, the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting has amassed hundreds of volunteers for its manual recounting of votes. 

While its Legal Affairs and Spokesperson Vann Dela Cruz stated that if their numbers differ from the data shown by the media, it is because they are verifying it; adding that they value accuracy over speed.

DQ Cases vs BBM

After the COMELEC First Division dismissed the last disqualification case against the leading presidential candidate Bongbong Marcos in April, COMELEC en banc released a resolution today, a day after the May 9 polls, dismissing all three remaining cases. 

Despite COMELEC’s dismissal of Marcos Jr.’s disqualification cases, two appeals remain against the presidential aspirant: (1) Danilo Lihaylihay’s petition to declare him a nuisance candidate, and, (2) a disqualification case from Pudno nga Ilokano/Sandalan.

Official Tally of Votes

Yesterday, May 9, COMELEC said that the official tally of votes for senators will resume Tuesday afternoon, at exactly 1 P.M., while the counting of votes for presidential and vice-presidential races will be done by the Congress on May 23. 

However, because COMELEC discovered that the complete certificate of canvass had not yet been received, the en banc decided to resume its canvassing session on Tuesday evening, 7 P.M.