Winning senators, party-lists likely proclaimed by May 15 —Garcia

The proclamation of winning senators and party-lists in the recently concluded elections is expected not later than Sunday, May 15, Commission on Elections (Comelec) Commissioner George Garcia said Friday.

Interviewed on GMA News’ Unang Balita, Garcia said the canvassing may be finished by Friday as the remaining 52 Certificates of Canvass (COCs) are expected to be transmitted within the same day.

“Kung magkakaganon, hindi po siguro lalagpas ng Linggo, makakapagproklama na tayo ng ating nanalong senador at siguro nga kahit nga 'yung party-list congressmen natin,” he said.

(If that happens, perhaps not later than Sunday, we can proclaim winning senators and even party-list congressmen.)

Garcia said 121 of the 173 COCs have already been canvassed.

On Thursday, Comelec spokesperson John Rex Laudiangco said the 12 winning senators may be proclaimed first to be followed by the party-list groups.

Based on the law, a party-list group that gets at least 2% of the total number of votes cast in the elections 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.

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

On Thursday night, the Comelec, sitting as the National Board of Canvassers (NBOC), said nine party-list groups have secured seats in the House of Representatives based on the partial and official tally. These are:

1. ACT-CIS – 1,112,991 (6.0586%)
2. Ako Bicol – 513,403 (2.7947%)
3. 1-Rider party-list – 453,712 (2.4698%)
4. 4PS – 427,779 (2.3286%)
5. Ang Probinsyano – 421,253 (2.2931%)
6. Sagip – 411,440 (2.2397%)
7. Cibac – 394,750 (2.1488%)
8. Ako Bisaya – 391,242 (2.1297%)
9. Probinsyano Ako – 380,119 (2.0692%

—KBK, GMA News