The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is poised to proclaim the results in the party-list balloting.
Comelec Commissioner Grace Padaca told reporters that canvassing of votes had been practically completed and the poll body was expected to rule Thursday if it would proclaim the winners of 58 seats at stake in the contest in the House of Representatives.
Padaca said the Comelec was just waiting for the results from the remaining overseas absentee voting certificates of canvass, those from the local absentee voting and the 10 municipalities that have yet to report nine days after the elections because of 鈥渆xtraordinary circumstances.鈥�
With 95 percent of the certificates of canvass (COCs) accounted for, the top 10 party-list groups are: Buhay (1,255,734 votes), A Teacher (1,033,873), Bayan Muna (945,639), 1 Care (931,303), Akbayan (820,351), Ako Bicol (761,115), Abono (753,161), OFW Family (735,854), Gabriela (706,194) and Senior Citizen (671,916).
Padaca said that for a party-list group to secure a seat, it should have 2 percent of the total votes cast in the May 13 elections.
鈥淥ur position is that we will be proclaiming the parties (who won) not the (number of) seats,鈥� said Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr.
Scam
Romulo Macalintal, an election lawyer, on Wednesday warned the 鈥渢ail-enders and hopefuls鈥� in the party-list derby against syndicates allegedly offering to manipulate voting results.
鈥淒o not fall victim to a scam now going on promising a manipulation of results to ensure a seat in the House of Representatives. Be reminded that these results cannot be manipulated and cannot be changed,鈥� he said in a text message to the Inquirer.
鈥淒o not believe claims of these syndicates that they 鈥榗an find a way鈥� to transfer in your favor votes of party-list groups that received minimal votes. I suggest you report to the Comelec these 鈥榦ffers鈥� to manipulate results or entrap them for possible criminal prosecution,鈥� Macalintal said.
Improbable
Migrante, one of the groups lagging in the count, questioned the number of votes it got in the balloting, claiming it was a victim of massive vote-shaving and disenfranchisement.
The group described the low number of people who voted for it as 鈥渧ery improbable鈥� and blamed the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines for the alleged irregularities.
Connie Bragas-Regalado, Migrante chairperson and first nominee, said the group had received calls from poll watchers and overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) here and abroad complaining that votes for Migrante were not counted and saying that the election returns generated by the PCOS machine showed the group had 鈥渮ero votes.鈥�
鈥淪ome of the OFWs were crying, they were incredulous,鈥� Regalado recounted, complaining of 鈥渞ampant鈥� vote-shaving in Migrante 鈥渂ulwarks鈥� in Southern Tagalog, Central Luzon and Metro Manila.
She cited Bi帽an City, Laguna province, where she said Migrante had at least 2,500 card-bearing members who were all registered voters. However, the group got only over 100 votes in the city.
鈥淚t鈥檚 incredible, it鈥檚 unbelievable. After a few days of evaluating the turnout, we have come to the conclusion of this trend in our strongholds,鈥� Regalado said.