by Isabella Magno

With 98.36% of election returns transmitted as of the late evening of May 12,  Bongbong Marcos remains the frontrunner for the highest post with 31, 104, 084 votes, while his running mate, Sara Duterte-Carpio, also leads the vice presidential race with 31, 561, 775 votes as per the partial and unofficial results. 

In line with this, the top three senatorial candidates are Robin Padilla with 13,231,228 votes, Loren Legarda with 12,290,805 votes, and Raffy Tulfo with 12,223,867. 

Meanwhile, the Anti-Crime and Terrorism Community Involvement and Support Partylist (ACT-CIS) currently topped the party-list race. 

As of 11:20 A.M. on May 12, Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) had received 24, 640 election returns (ERs), and had encoded a total of 16, 820 as of 7 P.M., with a 100% match rate with the electronic transmission conducted by the Commission on Elections (COMELEC).

According to PPCRV Spokesperson Atty. Vann Dela Cruz, the majority of the ERs they received are from the National Capital Region (NCR) and provinces in Luzon, including Pangasinan, Laguna, Bulcan, Cavite, Ilocos Norte, Sorsogon, and Rizal. 

Dela Cruz added that they had received several ERs from Visayas and Mindanao, specifically Misamis Oriental, but none had been processed and recorded yet. 

In relation to this, he stated that their duty is to compare their count to those that have been electronically transmitted to verify the accuracy, debunking the misconception that they are recounting the votes.

Meanwhile, COMELEC en banc canvassed 39 more Certificates of Canvass (COCs), bringing the total number of COCs canvassed to 121 out of 123.  

The COMELEC emphasized that the announcement of senatorial and party-list victors will not be delayed and that it expects to make the announcement before the end of the week. 

They suspended the canvassing of votes around 7 P.M. and will reconvene around 1 P.M. Friday, May 13. 

Election-Related Irregularities

The “controversial videos” of PNP personnel tearing up ballots have already been “fact-checked,” and the local cops’ explanations are “satisfactory,” according to Police Lt. Gen. Vicente Danao, acting officer in charge of the Philippine National Police (PNP), since the PNP Board of Elections Inspectors were mandated to tear up unused blank Official Ballots Sheets under the COMELEC Omnibus Election Code.

In other news, the Cebu City Police Office has been preparing for a “massive” protest that is set to take place at the Plaza Independencia on Friday, May 13. 

Lt. Col. Maria Theresa Macatangay urged the protesters to keep the rally in an “orderly manner,” so that the general public flow would not be affected and police officers would not need to prevent them from “expressing their sentiments”. 

“If they fail to do that, the police will be constrained to advise them to disperse. If we are responsible citizens, we should heed the directives of the authorities,” Macatangay said.