PPCRV: No irregularities in voting turnout

MANILA, Philippines — The Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) does not see any irregularities in the voting turnout that its personnel have been monitoring so far.

This, as social media users pointed out a “68:32” pattern on votes of presidential contenders Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Vice President Leni Robredo.

In an interview with reporters yesterday, PPCRV chair Myla Villanueva said they are looking into the reports that were observed by social media users.

“When we saw it this morning, we asked some academic institutions … and I invited them to look at the data. At the moment, since this afternoon, they have recorded no irregularities in that pattern,” Villanueva added.

So far, the University of Santo Tomas and the Ateneo de Manila University have looked into the pattern.

Villanueva, however, asked the public for more time, as she invited other academic institutions – the University of the Philippines and the De La Salle University – to also look into the data.

In a separate interview, PPCRV spokesperson Vann dela Cruz said the “68:32” trend is, so far, “no cause for concern.”

As of 6:15 p.m. last night, the Church-based poll watchdog has received 4,925 election returns.

There are about 106,000 election returns across the country.

The PPCRV is currently matching the fourth copy of election returns that have been printed from the vote counting machines (VCMs).

The physical returns would be matched to the electronic returns reflected on the transparency servers.

Dela Cruz said they are coordinating with the Commission on Elections regarding the reported VCM failures.

Meanwhile, the PPCRV said it does not need any more volunteers until May 15 amid with the sudden influx of volunteers yesterday.

“If we need more volunteers, we would ask for help. What we need right now is … food donations for the volunteers,” she said.