Invites sent to winning senators for Sunday afternoon proclamation, sources say

Some of the winning senatorial candidates have been invited to formal proclamation ceremonies on Sunday afternoon.

At least two sources have confirmed to GMA News Online that the candidates had been advised to give the Commission on Elections the names of their companions to the rites this weekend.

The proclamation was supposedly set at 4 p.m.

An invitation from Comelec chairman Sheriff Abas will be sent soon for the confirmation of the time and date.

Super Radyo dzBB's Nimfa Ravelo reported that front runners Senator Cynthia Villar and Senator Grace Poe had received the invitations to the supposed proclamation on Sunday.

Other sources, however, said it could also take place on Saturday.

Sens @Cynthia_Villar at @SenGracePOE nakatanggap ng imbitasyon ng Comelec para sa proklamasyon sa Linggo, 4pm. Ayon naman sa ilang sources, pwede ring bukas, Sabado, ang proklamasyon. @dzbb pic.twitter.com/98hrpmaqsY

— Nimfa R. Ravelo (@nimfaravelo) May 17, 2019

At a news conference on Friday afternoon, Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said there is still no final date for the proclamation of winners.

“No formal invitations have been sent out yet. That might have been a verbal indication of when the proclamation could happen at the earliest. It’s a heads up but again no formal invitation has been sent yet. There are still some matters that have to be settled,” he said.

He said the Comelec was considering proclaiming all the winning senators and party-list groups at the same time.

“One of the directions that we are going is one proclamation for both Senate and party-list winners. It just takes some time magkasama so hindi tayo pwedeng magmadali kasi kailangan i-compute muna natin ‘yung party-list,” he said.

“So take that into consideration, sobrang tentative pa nung Sunday. But as a heads up, it’s a reasonable window, but not confirmed yet,” he added.

He said having one proclamation would be more efficient.

“Better for everyone tapos agad,” he said.

As of 9:30 p.m. on Wednesday, the partial official count has senators Cynthia Villar and Grace Poe holding on to the top two spots with 19,383,224 and 17,043,889 votes, respectively.

Former special assistant to the president Bong Go was still on the third spot with 15,685,847 votes, followed by Taguig Rep. Pia Cayetano with 15,330,363 votes, and former Philippine National Police chief Ronald dela Rosa with 14,529,585 votes.

The others who entered the top 12 were:

• Angara, Sonny - 14,023,811
• Lapid, Lito - 12,628,054
• Marcos, Imee - 12,618,428
• Tolentino, Francis - 11,975,435
• Pimentel, Koko - 11,283,357
• Binay, Nancy - 11,041,386

As of 1:01 p.m. on Friday, the partial and unofficial count from the Comelec transparency server has Villar with 25,038,760 votes and Poe, 21,862,839.

On the third spot was former Go, followed by Cayetano, Dela Rosa, Angara, Lapid, Marcos, Tolentino, Revilla, Pimentel, and Binay. —NB, GMA News