Opposition urges Comelec to finish canvassing in Metro

Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino (KNP) leaders in the National Capital Region (NCR), led by two newly-elected opposition mayors, called on the local Commission on Elections (Comelec) yesterday to finish its canvassing of votes in Quezon City and Manila.

Meanwhile, the Comelec in Quezon City completed its canvassing for the national polls at 7:30 p.m. yesterday.

The Comelec tally showed opposition presidential candidate Fernando Poe Jr. beating President Arroyo in Quezon City. Poe garnered 258,382 votes to edge Mrs. Arroyo’s 223,768 in the city’s four districts.

In the vice presidential derby, Sen. Loren Legarda of the KNP received 383,795 votes to Sen. Noli de Castro’s 303,056.

Re-elected San Juan Mayor Joseph Victor Ejercito said in a news conference yesterday that delays in the canvassing has "cast doubts on the credibility of the results."

"When there are delays, adjustments and ‘magic’ could take place. I challenge the (Comelec) officials in Quezon City and Manila to quickly finish the canvassing," he said.

Navotas Mayor Toby Tiangco, who won his third and last term, and Puwersa ng Masa-NCR national chairman Pablo Casimina, joined Ejercito in the news conference at the KNP headquarters in Mandaluyong City.

Casimina said it was odd that while the elected local officials in the two cities have already been proclaimed, the local Comelec have yet to finish their canvassing for the national posts.

Moreover, Casimina said, the Quezon City Board of Canvassers (BOC) is not releasing the partial, official tally for the day, also called the "running balance," unlike in other cities, making the opposition suspicious.

"It’s an extraordinary situation. In some areas, it only takes election officers to finish the tally in three days while in Quezon City and other areas, two weeks have passed and they can’t still show the result of the canvassing," Casimina said.

Ejercito said the delay could be intended to wear down the opposition’s poll watchers. "But we are calling on them to remain strong and vigilant," he said.

The opposition reiterated that based on the Comelec’s partial official results, KNP standard-bearer Fernando Poe Jr. is leading President Arroyo by some 400,000 votes.

Known Lakas bailiwicks like Parañaque, Caloocan, Muntinlupa and Quezon City failed to deliver the votes for Mrs. Arroyo, Ejercito said.

"GMA only won in Las Piñas," he said.

Figures from the PMP, culled from Certificates of Canvass (COCs) and the official tally, showed Poe got 1,271,200 votes compared to Mrs. Arroyo’s 898,886 votes in the NCR.

Poe’s running mate, Legarda, had 1,767,178 votes against De Castro’s 1,269,866 votes.