THE Commission on Elections sitting as the National Board of Canvassers (NBOC) said it is still on track in proclaiming the winning senators by early next week.
This, after it was able to canvass 86.12 percent or 149 of the 173 Certificate of Canvass (COC) during its fifth day of processing COCs at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Pasay City.
Acting Comelec spokesperson John Rex C. Laudiangco said among the COCs which have yet to be sent to the NBOC are the 19 Manual Overseas COCs.
The NBOC is also still waiting for 1 Manual COC from the Vulnerable Sector Office; 1 Manual COC for 63 barangays of North Cotabato; 1 Electronic COC from the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM); 1 Electronic COC for Hong Kong; and 1 Electronic COC for Jordan.
Special elections
The COC in Hong Kong is still pending since it includes the election results for Shanghai.
Comelec postponed the elections in Shanghai until the Chinese government lifted the ongoing lockdown in the city due to Covid-19 incidents.
“The National Board of Canvassers if the election results for Hong Kong, Macau, and other parts of mainland China exclude Shanghai. This is being studied so the canvassing could continue,” Laudiangco said in a press conference last Sat.
There are over 1,900 registered voters in Shanghai.
He said the NBOC is also currently studying if it could make a proclamation of winning candidates without the results of the special elections to be held in Tubaran, Lanao Del Sur, which cover over 8,200 voters.
Comelec declared a failure of election in the said area due to incidents of election violence last Mon.
A special election is now scheduled to be held there tentatively scheduled on May 24, 2022.
“The National Board of Canvassers are looking into it if it will affect the [results] of the national positions, which are being canvassed,” Laudiangco said.
Winning senators
Upon the arrival of the said COCs, Laudiangco said the NBOC is expected to be able to proclaim all of the winning senators next week, to be followed by the winning party-list groups.
“The intention is to proclaim all together the winning 12 senatorial candidates,” Laudiangco said.
“As to the partylist, as what was said to you before, because of the rule of getting the total number of partylist votes in order to apply the formula laid down by the Supreme Court, there will be some delay [in the declaration],” he added.