In Manila, reelectionist Mayor Joseph 鈥淓rap鈥� Estrada鈥檚 lead over his closest rival, former Mayor Alfredo Lim, was at a slim 88 votes as of 8:30 p.m. Monday night.
With 43.44 percent of the ballots counted, Estrada had 162,677 votes compared to Lim鈥檚 162,589 votes.聽 Another major candidate, Rep. Amado Bagatsing, was at a distant third with 96,166 votes.
In the vice mayoralty race, Estrada鈥檚 running mate, Honey Lacuna, had a more commanding lead with 154,775 votes compared to her closest rival, Ali Atienza, who had 128,126 votes. Atienza was initially listed as Bagatsing鈥檚 running mate but Lim took him under his wing a week before the polls.
In Makati City, incumbent Mayor Romulo 鈥淜id鈥� Pe帽a was trailing Rep. Abigail 鈥淎bby鈥� Binay by 7,327 votes.
With 44.13 percent of the ballots tabulated as of 8:30 p.m., Binay鈥攄aughter of Vice President Jejomar Binay and sister of the former city mayor, Junjun鈥攈ad 90,873 votes compared to Pe帽a鈥檚 83,546 votes.
Leading in the vice mayoral race was Binay鈥檚 running mate, Monique Lagdameo with 100,003 votes. In second place was Pe帽a鈥檚 running mate, Karla Mercado, with 62,011 votes.
Abby made to wait
Representative Binay was politely told to wait in line when she cast her vote at the San Jose Elementary School on Monday.
At 11 a.m., Binay, accompanied by her husband, businessman Luis Campos who is hoping to take over her seat in Congress, arrived at the polling precinct in Barangay Guadalupe Nuevo and headed straight for the table where the Board of Election Inspectors were seated. But a watcher from her own party, United Nationalist Alliance,聽 told her to go to the next room and wait for her turn.
After a five-minute wait, Binay finally cast her vote. She was met outside the precinct by reporters who asked her about allegations of rampant vote-buying in the city on the eve of the elections.
Alluding to her rival, incumbent Mayor聽 Pe帽a, Binay said: 鈥淚鈥檓 really curious where they got the money that they鈥檙e distributing to the voters. Like I said earlier, before they accuse us of being corrupt, they should first look in the mirror.鈥�
Her claim, however, was denied by Pe帽a who told reporters that 鈥渨e do not have the means to buy votes.鈥�
He threw the allegation back at her, saying he had heard of reports about Binay鈥檚 camp gathering voters and handing them money. 鈥淢y leadership is all about pure volunteerism,鈥� Pe帽a said, adding that he was certain he would win because of his 鈥淏agong Makati鈥� advocacy.
Erap again claims it鈥檚 his 鈥榣ast hurrah鈥�
In Manila, reelectionist Mayor Estrada tried to project confidence by saying that his certain victory this year would be his 鈥渓ast hurrah鈥� in politics, a remark he also made in the 2013 polls when he defeated then Mayor Lim.
Speaking to reporters after casting his ballot at Padre Burgos Elementary School on Altura Street in Sta. Mesa, Estrada said 鈥渢his is my last hurrah, to [leave] a legacy, to bring back Manila to its glory. And also to revive the name we used for our policemen鈥斺�淢anila鈥檚 Finest.鈥�
Meanwhile, Bagatsing claimed he had personally received reports of rampant vote-buying and harassment occurring in different areas of the city. 鈥淭hey (the people behind it) can鈥檛 accept that the citizens of Manila are already fed up with them,鈥� he said. With reports from Apec Sta. Ana, John Cyril Yee, Katrine Tenia, Adceline Amilhamja, Airei Kim Guanga and Katrine Tenia