Davide son trailing Garcia in Cebu gubernatorial race

Seeking to retain her seat, Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia is leading her rivals in the most vote-rich province in the Philippines, based on GMA Network’s latest partial and unofficial tally Tuesday. (See Cebu results here) With election returns from 85 percent of precincts in the first-ever automated elections transmitted to the Commission on Elections and tallied by GMA Network, Garcia - who is running under the administration party - has so far earned 496,214 votes. But former Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr's son, Hilario "Jun" III, closely trails behind Garcia at second place with 421,321 votes. The elder Davide has been vocal about his support for presidential front runner Sen. Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III, even giving up his post as permanent representative to the United Nations to campaign for his son as well as the Liberal Party standard-bearer. Davide was appointed Comelec chairman during the term of Noynoy's mother, the late President Corazon Aquino. Cebu province has a total of 2,416,289 registered voters, the largest in the country. About 75 per cent of some 50 million registered voters trooped to the polls Monday, the Comelec reported. President Gloria Macapagal’s victory in the 2004 elections has been partially attributed to the more than one million votes she received from the island province. Three of Cebu’s top officials are members of the influential Garcia clan: the governor, third district Rep. Pablo John Garcia, and second district Rep. Pablo Garcia Sr. All three have endorsed Lakas-Kampi-CMD candidate Gilberto Teodoro Jr., who currently ranks fourth in GMA Network's partial tally. – Mark Merueñas/YA, GMANews.TV