Maguindanao goes 12-0 for TU senatorial bets

SHARIFF AGUAK, Maguindanao – Team Unity (TU) may trail the Genuine Opposition (GO) in unofficial quick-counts but the administration’s Senate ticket led by Ilocos Sur Governor Luis “Chavit" Singson scored 12-0 in Maguindanao province, as of Wednesday morning with 73 percent of votes counted, according to Mindanao-based online news agency MindaNews. Voter turnout in the province was very high, with no town lower than 90 percent, provincial administrator Norie Unas and election supervisor Lintang Bedol told MindaNews. Muslim-dominated Maguindanao has 212,795 registered voters. MindaNews earlier reported that along a 27-kilometer stretch of highway from Shariff Aguak to the boundaries of Shariff Kabunsuan and Sultan Kudarat provinces, there was not a single poster of the Genuine Opposition (GO). Singson bested all other senatorial bets, getting 136,044 votes in Maguindanao. Bukidnon Representative Juan Miguel Zubiri came in second with 133,321 votes. Former Senator and comedian Tito Sotto got 132,103 votes. Placing fourth to twelfth in the Team Unity sweep were: Ralph Recto (130,286); Joker Arroyo(126,597) tied with Michael Defensor (126,597); Prospero Pichay (125,150); Cesar Montano (121,775); Edgardo Angara (99,341); Tessie Aquino-Oreta (99,266); Vic Magsaysay (94,129); and Sultan Jamalul Kiram (92,234). Kiram, the lone Muslim running for the Senate, is from the island-province of Sulu, also part of Mindanao like Maguindanao. Other TU bets from Mindanao are Zubiri, who is outgoing Bukidnon Representative, and Pichay, outgoing Surigao del Sur Representative. The highest vote-getter for GO was Francis “Chiz" Escudero, who placed 13th, although his 39,824 votes was less than half the 12th placer in the Team Unity ticket. MindaNews also said a province carved out of Maguindanao – Shariff Kabunsuan – is also expected to go 12-0 for Team Unity but no certificates of canvass had arrived as of Wednesday afternoon. The province has 198,278 registered voters. The results in Maguindanao bucked the trend in partial, unofficial quick-counts and the official tally. In the quick-count by AMA, one of several partners of GMA-7 in its Eleksyon 2007 coverage, seven GO bets, four TU, and one independent made it to the Top 12. The National Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel), accredited by the Commission on Elections to do a quick-count, it was seven for GO, three for TU, and two independents. The Comelec official tally, still at a very early stage with only a few thousand votes counted, saw eight GO bets, three TU, and one independent making it to the Top 12. Twelve of 24 Senate seats are at stake in the elections. -GMANews.TV