Comelec still needs 27 COCs to proclaim senatorial, party-list winners

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) may not push through with the proclamation of winning senatorial candidates and party-list groups this weekend until it receives the final 27 city and provincial certificates of canvass (COCs), a poll official said Friday. In an interview with reporters, Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said the Comelec en banc — sitting as the NBOC — still needs 27 out of the 274 COCs required to proclaim all the winners in the senatorial and party-list races. Jimenez said they "expect" all the COCs to be transmitted Friday, with six provinces, including Pangasinan, committing to do so. He, however, quickly stressed that the Comelec won't be able to proclaim the winners on Saturday evening if the COCs do not come in by morning of the same day. Jimenez said that during a meeting of Comelec executives on Thursday, Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal suggested that they proclaim at least six of the winning senatorial candidates even before all the COCs come in. But Comelec chair Jose Melo nixed the idea, Jimenez said, adding that the poll chief preferred to proclaim the 12 winning senatorial candidates on a same date. The 27 cities and provinces which still need to transmit COCs are:

• Caloocan City (653,003 voters)
• Las Pinas City (331,220 voters)
• Apayao (62,350 voters)
• Ifugao (101,354 voters)
• Mountain Province (101,983 voters)
• Pangasinan (1,621,959 voters)
• Batanes (10,124 voters)
• Isabela (867,119 voters)
• Nueva Ecija (1,289,804 voters)
• Laguna (1,440,660 voters)
• Palawan (535,279 voters)
• Masbate (437,898 voters)
• Iloilo (1,015,574 voters)
• Northern Samar (343,575 voters)
• Davao del Sur (247,616 voters)
• Sultan Kudarat (378,352 voters)
• Basilan (230,459 voters)
• Lanao del Sur (515,486 voters)
• Maguindanao (651,692 voters)
• Sulu (315,104 voters)
• Southern Leyte (247,616 voters)
• Misamis Occidental (335,147 voters)
• Misamis Oriental (493,209 voters)
• Compostella Valley (249,766 voters)
• Surigao del Norte (288,653 voters)
• Isabela City (56,798 voters)
• Cotabato City (94,342 voters)

(The number indicated beside the provinces are the number of registered voters, not the number of voters who actually voted.) The PBOC (provincial board of canvassers) receives COCs from the city and municipal board of canvassers, which based its report on results from the 76,347 clustered precincts natiowide. According to the latest official tally of the poll body, the candidates most likely to snag a Senate seat are:

• Bong Revilla, Ramon (Lakas-Kampi) - 11,053,981 votes
• Estrada, Jose “Jinggoy" (PMP) - 10,631,692
• Defensor-Santiago, Miriam (PRP) – 10,042,067 votes
• Drilon, Franklin (LP) – 9,306,469 votes
• Enrile, Juan Ponce (PMP) – 9,021,396 votes
• Cayetano, Pilar Juliana (NP) – 8,060,063 votes
• Marcos, Ferdinand Jr. (NP) – 7,385,117 votes
• Recto, Ralph (LP) – 7,382,064 votes
• Osmena, Sergio III (Independent) – 7,186,573 votes
• Sotto, Vicente III (NPC) – 6,957,836 votes
• Guingona, Teofisto III (LP) – 6,313,522 votes
• Lapid, Manuel (Lakas-Kampi) – 6,175,905 votes

On Thursday, the Comelec said that it expects to proclaim the senatorial and party-list winners by Saturday evening. Meanwhile, a joint session of Congress, sitting as the NBOC, will serve as the canvassing board for the position of president and vice president. Officials from both the Senate and the House of Representatives, however, are set to meet whether to convene as the NBOC earlier than May 31. — RSJ, RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV