Comelec eyes proclamation of winning senators in Eleksyon 2022 next week

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) plans to proclaim the winning senators in the May 9 polls early next week.

“Ang optimistic projection namin ay is in a week’s time. Tignan niyo ‘yung bar natin, it’s 82 out of 173, we will canvass the remaining COCs. Meron lang po tayong onti na hihintayin,” acting Comelec spokesperson John Rex Laudiangco said at a press conference on Thursday.

(Our optimistic projection is that we can proclaim the winners in a week's time. Look at the bar graph. We have already canvassed 82 out of 173 certificates of canvass. We will canvass the remaining COCs. We are just waiting for a few COCs.)

Laudiangco said that not all COCs from overseas voting will be transmitted electronically as some will be physically delivered to the National Board of Canvassers (NBOC).

The COCs from local absentee voting and the 63 barangays in North Cotabato that conducted manual voting will also need to be taken into account, he added.

Further, he said that the 12 winning senators may be proclaimed first to be followed by the party-list groups.

“‘Yung senators po kasi it’s just a popularity vote. Kung sino ‘yung mas maraming boto, sa nararaming kandidato or the magic 12, that’s it, ‘yun na ‘yung panalo. Sa partylists, ayon sa Republic Act 7941 or the Party-List Act, at ayon sa decision ng Supreme court, meron tayong formula na ia-apply,” he said.

(For the senators, it’s just a popularity vote. Whoever has the most number of votes among the candidates or the Magic 12, those are already the winners. For the partylists, according to Republic Act 7941, or the Party-List Act, and according to the decision of the Supreme Court, we have a formula to apply.)

The law provides that a party-list group that gets at least 2% of the total number of votes cast in the party-list race will be entitled to at least one seat in the House of Representatives.

Those who exceed the 2% threshold will be entitled to additional seats proportionate to the number of votes cast, but the total number of seats for each winning party-list group cannot exceed three.

Those who do not meet the 2% requirement may still be able to secure a seat in the House because the party-list law also requires that 20% of House members come from the party-list ranks.

For the proclamation, Laudiangco said that the number of companions of winning senators will be limited as the National Capital Region is still under COVID-19 Alert Level 1 and the minimum public health standards must be complied with.

As of Wednesday night, the Comelec, sitting as the National Board of Canvassers (NBOC), had already processed 82 COCs from several provinces, cities, and overseas voting.

Actor Robin Padilla is leading the Senate race based on partial and official results released by the NBOC on Wednesday morning.

Meanwhile, the Comelec reiterated its call to candidates and the public to dispose of campaign materials properly and coordinate with the authorities.

“Hinihiling po namin sa ating mga pulitiko at kababayan patuloy na po tayong paglilinis ng ating mga campaign materials and let us be environmentally friendly and compliant po dito. Idispose po natin properly yung mga campaign materials,” Laudiangco said.

(We appeal to the politicians and to the public to continue cleaning up campaign materials and let us be environmentally friendly and compliant. Please dispose of the campaign materials properly.)

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) on Wednesday urged local government units (LGUs) and candidates to remove their campaign materials within three days. —with a report from Richa Noriega/VBL, GMA News