Noynoy, Binay still dominate Congress canvassing

As the official canvassing of votes for president and vice president nears conclusion, Senator Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III and Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay continued to hold a tight grip on the top slots. Out of the 278 certificates of canvass (COCs), 236 had already been opened by the Congress, sitting as the National Board of Canvassers, as of 6 p.m. Thursday. Aquino and Binay ruled in most provinces and cities canvassed for the day such as Batangas, Quezon City, Sulu, Muntinlupa, Pasay City, Makati City, Malabon City, Pampanga, San Juan, and Maguindanao. The tally for president is as follows:

NBOC CANVASSING FOR PRESIDENT

CANDIDATE	VOTES
AQUINO, Benigno Simeon III	14,641,803
ESTRADA, Joseph	9,125,823
VILLAR, Manuel	5,384,262
TEODORO, Gilberto Jr.	3,965,602
VILLANUEVA, Eduardo	1,088,439
GORDON, Richard	489,832
ACOSTA, Vetellano	174,747
PERLAS, Jesus Nicanor	52,734
MADRIGAL, Ma. Ana Consuelo	44,965
DE LOS REYES, John Carlos	42,694

Based on partial NBOC canvassing as of 6:56 p.m., June 3, with 236 certificates of canvass (CoCs). GMANews.TV

For vice president: NBOC CANVASSING FOR VICE PRESIDENT

CANDIDATE	VOTES
BINAY, Jejomar	14,084,876
ROXAS, Manuel II	13,440,127
LEGARDA, Loren	4,125,558
FERNANDO, Bayani	992,778
MANZANO, Eduardo	790,091
YASAY, Perfecto	350,628
SONZA, Jose	62,139
CHIPECO, Dominador	50,878

Based on partial NBOC canvassing as of 6:56 p.m., June 3, with 236 certificates of canvass (CoCs). GMANews.TV

Roxas' counsel continued to object on the opening of the COCs, insisting on the high percentage of null votes. Lawyer Roland Solis said there is no way for them to verify whether the null votes were no vote, undervote or technical glitch. "The Smartmatic has this functionality where the voter could have been able to validate whether or not his vote was properly read by machine however the Comelec disabled this functionality, the only reason given was it’s too expensive," he said. — Amita Legaspi/KBK/RSJ, GMANews.TV