It’s Binay in Makati

Makati City re-electionist Mayor Jejomar "Jojo" Binay received a fresh mandate from his constituents as he was declared winner of the mayoralty race in the country’s financial capital last night.

The two congressional seats in the city were also given by the electorate to incumbent Rep. Teodoro Locsin in the first district and Rep. Agapito "Butz" Aquino in the second district.

As of press time, Binay has taken an insurmountable lead over his closest rival, Oscar Ibay, with 90,541 votes as the canvassing in both districts reached the halfway point. Ibay received 24,759 votes, according to the Board of Canvassers at the Olympia Sports Complex.

Binay is assured of victory as shown by the initial tally of votes. Board member Superintendent Elena Ruiz of the Department of Education said while they already have a complete tally they will have to wait for a double-checking of tabulations, which would take them until around 10 p.m. to finish.

"Actually, we’re through with the counting. But we have to wait for the tabulation and checking," she said.

Ruiz has also admitted that they were trying to finish the canvassing to have the winner proclaimed at midnight.

Canvassing of votes at the country’s financial capital was one of the most expedient in Metro Manila. Members of the board, however, said they did not compromise efficiency and accuracy for speed.

"We always double-check here," explained Ruiz. "As you can see, we don’t release partial results until we have them counter-checked."

With half of the total number of votes officially counted and checked, Locsin was ahead with 44,026 votes as compared to his rival Mark Donal Bitanga’s 5,121.

In the second district, Aquino is more than 30,000 votes ahead of his rival Antonio Manatili, who garnered 12,239 votes.